A stunning acrobatic finish was among two goals from Erling Haaland as Manchester City emphatically won 5-0 against a previously unbeaten AC Sparta Prague, sending the Norwegian ahead of Alessandro Del Piero and Neymar in the all-time UEFA Champions League (UCL) scoring charts.
Sparta might have been previously unbeaten in eight UCL matches (including qualifiers), but a visit to the Etihad, where City are themselves without defeat in 32 European outings, was an entirely different beast.
Phil Foden took just three minutes to open City’s account, receiving it from Manuel Akanji before evading challenges from Qazim Laçi and Kaan Kairinen and sweeping brilliantly into the far corner from the edge of the area.
Haaland waited longer than 10 minutes to register his first touch of the match, but predictably it came in the form of a towering header which needed an acrobatic stop from Peter Vindahl Jensen to prevent the ball from dropping over the goal line.
City were so dominant from thereon that they briefly forgot they had a goal of their own to defend. A single long ball found Veljko Birmančević bearing down on goal, but his eventual low effort was tipped around the post by Stefan Ortega.
Knowing that a two-goal cushion was required to settle the nerves, Foden drove the hosts forward, but Vindahl was again on form to stop his next attempt, and Savinho shot wide as HT arrived with still just a goal separating the two sides.
It looked as though the second half had begun the same as the first when Nathan Aké almost immediately bundled in during the aftermath of a corner, but the goal was ruled out due to a handball from the Dutchman in the process.
That only served to give City further motivation, and they finally scored again just before the hour mark in perplexing fashion. Savinho lifted a cross from the byline towards Haaland, who flew through the air to execute an unbelievable back-heel finish past Vindahl.
City are not known for taking their foot off the gas in these situations, and John Stones rose high to send Matheus Nunes’ cross looping back across goal and inside the far post.
Haaland returned to normal for his second – and City’s fourth – as he received it from Nunes and cut inside his defender to curl in a right-footed finish.
The hosts’ fifth then came from the spot in the final minutes after Ángelo Preciado’s rash challenge on Nunes, who stepped up himself to blast into the top corner and round out the scoring.
- Matchday one’s goalless draw against Inter Milan prevents City from finishing the week atop the UCL league stage standings, but they still join Aston Villa and Liverpool in an all-English top three.
Sparta can be proud of their efforts, meanwhile, and they will surely hope for at least a point when hosting Stade Brestois in their next European match.
