Champions League: Erling Haaland scores two as Man City thrashes Copenhagen 5-0

• Haaland scored 2 goals in 45 minutes.
• Man City defeated Copenhagen by 5-0 in the Champions League.
• Haaland now has 19 goals in his career with Man City.

Erling Haaland added two more goals to his incredible start to his Manchester City career on Wednesday as the English giants defeated FC Copenhagen 5-0 in the Champions League.

Haaland now has 19 goals in 11 competitive games for City, but Pep Guardiola’s decision to rest him in the second half prevented him from scoring his fourth hat-trick in five home games.

The Norwegian scored twice from close range before David Khocholava diverted Sergio Gomez’s shot into his own net to put City up 3-0 at halftime.

Riyad Mahrez capitalized on Haaland’s absence to score his first goal of the season from the penalty spot, followed by Julian Alvarez.

With three wins from three, City is in prime position to go to the round of 16 and can clinch qualifying with two games remaining if they win in Copenhagen in six days.

In their domestic league, Copenhagen is mired in the middle of the pack, and in manager Jacob Neestrup’s second game in charge, they came to the Etihad with damage containment in mind.

But for goalkeeper Kamil Grabara of Copenhagen, City could have easily eclipsed the six goals they scored against Manchester United on Sunday.

Haaland had only 11 touches before being replaced, yet four of them were on-target shots.

Guardiola stated prior to the game that the 22-year-old is unmatched at his age, even when compared to the game’s legends.

Haaland calmly converted Joao Cancelo’s cross into his 27th Champions League goal in 22 games.

Grabara then denied Bernardo Silva, Haaland, and Jack Grealish with incredible saves.

When he parried Gomez’s shot at 32 minutes, Haaland was, as expected, in the ideal position to pounce on the rebound.

Another attempt by the Spanish fullback was on target when it struck the unfortunate Khocholava and redirected into his own net.

Guardiola opted to bench Haaland, who still had 10 games to play before the World Cup break in less than a month, after securing the three points.

Rico Lewis and Joshua Wilson-Esbrand made their Champions League debuts off the bench, while Cancelo and Silva had a break.

Nonetheless, City added two more goals in the second half as Mahrez reacted to Guardiola’s request for the Algerian to return to form.

Aymeric Laporte was fouled, and from the penalty spot, Mahrez sent Grabara the wrong way.

He then assisted Alvarez in scoring his first Champions League goal with a straightforward close-range finish.

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