Erling Haaland ultimately—perhaps inevitably—turned out to be another headline-grabbing performance on this occasion, and he only needed 45 minutes to make his mark on another Manchester City game.
Only three rival teams have kept Haaland from scoring at least once this season: Liverpool, Bournemouth, and Serbia. He took him one touch and seven minutes to make sure FC Copenhagen would not be added to that group.
Pep Guardiola was left with little choice but to chuckle as Haaland rolled away after converting Joo Cancelo’s cross. The announcer at Etihad Stadium joined in on the joke by saying,
“Goal for City, anyone else?”
The problem is that you don’t know how to respond when you see a striker score 19 goals in 12 games this season despite having handled the ball less than some of the ballboys.
He was replaced here at halftime after City and Haaland had finished the job completely. Before being substituted, he had already scored twice, giving him 28 goals in 22 Champions League games, two more than Rivaldo and Luis Suárez combined, and City added a third goal in a frenzied first half thanks to an own goal by Davit Khocholava.
They added two more goals through Riyad Mahrez and Julián lvarez after the half to win easily.
Guardiola added, “I’m extremely happy for the lads and how they performed. The way we played was great. “The outcome was excellent, but I’m particularly delighted with our offensive strategy. I’m really, really happy, and once more, I want to compliment the players.
Goalkeepers seldom perform well in a 5-0 loss, but if it weren’t for Kamil Grabara, a former goalie for Liverpool and Huddersfield Town who now plays for Copenhagen, we might be talking about a record-breaking Champions League score here, according to Guardiola.
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