By Victor Kanayo
Manchester City on Tuesday night, humiliated RB Leipzig 7-0 in the return leg, culminating in an 8-1 aggregate win in the round of 16 UEFA Champions League clash.
With the crucial victory, the Pep Guardiola-tutored side comfortably booked their place in the quarter-final of the competition, with Erling Haaland scoring five goals at the Etihad Stadium.
The round-of-16 tie was evenly poised after a 1-1 draw in Germany, but the Premier League champions, led by Haaland, made light work of Leipzig back in Manchester to reach the quarterfinals for the sixth straight season.
While the encounter lasted, Haaland made history, with five goals, including a first-half hat trick.
His latest goalscoring exploits made him the third player in history to hit such heights.
Meaning, he joined Lionel Messi as the only players to score five times in a Champions League knockout stage game, as well as Luiz Adriano, who scored five in another stage of Champions League match.
His record-equaling haul, also saw the Norwegian marksman move onto 39 goals for the season to break City’s single-season scoring record previously set by Tommy Johnson in 1928-29.
And with the goals, Haaland became the youngest (22 years, 236 days) and quickest (25 games) to reach 30 Champions League goals.