Football: Haaland hits five to ease Man City into Champions League quarters

MANCHESTER -- Erling Haaland equaled a Champions League record with a five-goal haul to ease Manchester City into the quarter-finals at RB Leipzig's expense with a 7-0 win on Tuesday. 

Haaland also set a new club record for goals in a season of 39 in the process as Pep Guardiola's men reached the last eight for the sixth consecutive season with an 8-1 aggregate victory.

"My super strength is scoring goals," said Haaland. "A lot of it is being quick in the mind and trying to put it where the goalkeeper is not."

Abu Dhabi-owned City are yet to go all the way in the Champions League, but they have never had a striker of Haaland's quality to make the difference in the latter stages before.

At just 22 he now has 33 goals in 25 appearances in Europe's premier club competition.

"Firstly, I'm proud to play in this competition, I love it," added Haaland. "Five goals! To win 7-0 is amazing."

The snowy weather was more akin to Haaland's homeland, but City did not freeze under the pressure and kept their Champions League dreams alive.

The tie was delicately balanced after a 1-1 draw in eastern Germany three weeks ago, but a Leipzig side depleted by injury never looked like a match for their star-studded opponents.

"That was an incredible performance," said Leipzig coach Marco Rose.

"They didn't allow us to control the game at all, at no stage of the game. The bottom line is disappointing for us but they really deserved it."

Guardiola had kept Kevin De Bruyne in reserve for City's 1-0 win at Crystal Palace in the Premier League at the weekend and on his return to the starting line-up, the Belgian was back to his best.

Ilkay Gundogan should have opened the scoring after just three minutes from De Bruyne's inviting cross.

There was some fortune surrounding City's opener as VAR spotted a handball against Benjamin Henrichs that led to a penalty that neither the City players nor the crowd even noticed.

- Denied record chance -

Haaland fired low to Janis Blaswich's left to maintain his perfect record from the spot for City with his sixth penalty of the season.

Two minutes later it was 2-0 as Haaland teed up De Bruyne, who smashed a shot against the bar, and then showed his speed and strength to power home a header from the rebound.

Haaland had three before half-time as Ruben Dias rose highest to head Jack Grealish's corner onto the post and Amadou Haidara's attempted clearance ricocheted off City's number nine into the net.

Gundogan's classy finish into the far corner four minutes into the second half rubbed more salt into Leipzig's wounds before Haaland started rewriting the record books.

Firstly, he hammered home at the second attempt after Blaswich parried his initial header to match Tommy Johnson's record of 38 goals for City in the 1928-29 season.

Haaland set a new mark with still three months of the campaign to go when he snaffled up another rebound after Blaswich saved from Manuel Akanji.

In the process, he moved level with Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano's record of scoring five goals in a Champions League game.

But Guardiola denied his star striker the chance of another record as he replaced him with Julian Alvarez with 25 minutes remaining.

"If he achieves all these milestones at 22 his life would be boring," joked Guardiola on making the change.

Instead, it was left to De Bruyne to have the final say as he curled a superb strike into the top corner in stoppage time.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Leipzig move into third spot with 4-2 win at Cologne

BERLIN -- RB Leipzig reclaimed third place in the Bundesliga with an entertaining 4-2 victory at Cologne on Monday that put them firmly on course for a Champions League spot with five games left in the season.

Leipzig's second win in their last six league games put them two points ahead of Borussia Moenchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen with the top four qualifying for the Champions League group stage.

Cologne stunned the visitors in the seventh minute when Jhon Cordoba fired in on the rebound after Elvis Rexhbecaj first hit the post but Leipzig turned things around before halftime.

Patrik Schick grabbed his ninth goal of the campaign with a 20th minute header and Christopher Nkunku was then sent through to calmly chip the ball over keeper Timo Horn in the 38th.

In a furious start to the second half the visitors added another goal when keeper Peter Gulacsi spectacularly served up a perfect 60-metre assist with a direct delivery for striker Timo Werner to finish it off.

"At that moment when I had the ball I saw that Timo had started his run and that there was a lot of space," Gulacsi said. "It was a good ball from me but Timo still had to score and he did that well."

Cologne substitute Anthony Modeste's 55th minute missile briefly gave the hosts hope but it was quickly cancelled out by Dani Olmo's effort two minutes later.

Leipzig are now third on 58 points, two behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund and nine off leaders Bayern Munich. 

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

-reuters-

Football: Leipzig eliminate Spurs to claim first ever last eight spot

LEIPZIG, Germany - RB Leipzig's Marcel Sabitzer scored two early goals as they eased past last year's Champions League finalists Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 in their last 16 second leg tie on Tuesday to reach their first quarter-finals by 4-0 on aggregate.

Sabitzer fired the lively German side in front with a low shot from about 20 metres after 10 minutes and they never looked back, pinning the visitors, who were without injured strikers Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, in their own half.

Leipzig's captain was then given far too much space in the 21st to head home Angelino's cross at the near post after Serge Aurier's poor clearance as the Spurs' players heads started to drop.

Emil Forsberg completed the victory with a third goal from inside the box in the 87th as Leipzig, who only got promoted to the Bundesliga in 2016, reached their first quarter-final in Europe's premier club competition.

"We did it better than in our recent Bundesliga matches," Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann told reporters. Leipzig had drawn their last domestic league two matches.

"The fans are moved. This is a very big deal for the club. We are now looking forward to the draw. A special moment."

Leipzig were founded by Red Bull in 2009 by acquiring a fifth division licence and started in the amateur divisions.


STRUGGLING SPURS

Injury-ravaged Tottenham, who were also missing winger Steven Bergwijn and full back Ben Davies, struggled to keep up with Leipzig's pace and were constantly exposed at the back while posing no threat up front.

Leipzig pounced on almost every sloppy pass and inaccurate clearance and could have added several more goals in a dominant first half with Timo Werner and Patrik Schick coming close.

Spurs coach Jose Mourinho had warned the absence of "box sharks" Kane and Son would make it more difficult for his side to score and the Portuguese's prediction proved accurate.

His team had to wait until the 43rd minute for their first corner and managed to carve out only half a chance in the second period with a Dele Alli effort in the 75th.

"It's hard for us to score at the moment," Mourinho said.

"Our first couple of mistakes they score and then it's very difficult. Their physicality is incredible, their defenders win the duels, they stop the game. They are very fast in attack. They can hurt us all of the time. They deserve to go through."

Without a win in any competition since their 1-0 first-leg defeat by Leipzig in London last month, Tottenham must try to turn their Premier League season around if they are to have any chance of being back in the Champions League next term.

"People can say it is excuses but it (injuries) is pretty bad for anyone," Mourinho added. "We have matches to play and we go to our limits. Let’s see how we end the season." 

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Besiktas close in on last 16 after Monaco draw

ISTANBUL - Turkey's Besiktas edged closer to a place in the Champions League last 16 after a pulsating 1-1 home draw with Monaco left them top of Group G with 10 points from four games on Wednesday.

Following Porto's 3-1 win over RB Leipzig in the later game, Besiktas need one point from their last two matches, at home to Porto followed by a visit to Leipzig, to reach the knockout stages for the first time.

Second-placed Porto have six points ahead of Champions League debutants Leipzig on four while French champions Monaco, last season's semi-finalists, are propping up the group on two points and have only a slim chance of avoiding an early exit.

Roared on by their fervent fans in the Turkish capital, Besiktas pinned Monaco back from the start but the visitors missed the best two chances before they scored against the run of play on the stroke of halftime.

Rony Lopez silenced the Besiktas faithful when he beat Fabri with a superb curling shot from 20 metres after the home team's keeper had denied Monaco's Portuguese striker and Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans.

Besiktas were rewarded for their pressure in the 54th minute as Monaco left back Jorge hauled down Ricardo Quaresma in the penalty area and Cenk Tosun powered his spot-kick past Danijel Subasic.

Monaco nearly regained the lead in the 75th minute when Oguzhan Ozyakup cleared an Andrea Raggi header off the line with the visitors looking dangerous whenever they came forward.

Both sides threw caution to the wind in the last 10 minutes but neither were able to find a winner, with Monaco striker Balde Keita squandering two good opportunities.

The result extended Besiktas's unbeaten home run in European competition to 12 games, although they fell short of racking up a fifth successive win.

(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade,; Editing by Ed Osmond)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Bayern hammer 10-man Leipzig to open up lead

BERLIN, Germany -- Robert Lewandowski led Bayern Munich to a 3-0 triumph in their Bundesliga showdown against ten-man RB Leipzig that opened up a three-point lead over their rivals.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti hailed a "perfect" first half in which Bayern's Thiago Alcantara and Xabi Alonso scored early goals before Leipzig winger Emil Forsberg was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle. That left the visitors to play an hour at Munich's Allianz Arena a man down.

Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi then conceded the penalty which Lewandowski converted on 45 minutes to put Bayern 3-0 up at the break.

The result put Munich three points clear of their battered opponents at the top of the German league table heading into the winter break.

Leipzig briefly knocked Bayern off top spot early this month and the two have been in a neck-and-neck battle since.

Ancelotti highlighted his side's first half display.


"We were very aggressive and quickly established control, which gives us self-confidence, but we must still improve," said the Italian.

There was a minute's silence for the victims of Monday's truck attack in Berlin at Munich, Cologne, Ingolstadt and Hoffenheim, but it was most poignant at the capital's Olympic stadium.

Hertha Berlin hosted Darmstadt seven kilometres (four miles) from Breitscheidplatz where a lorry ploughed into a busy Christmas market on Monday, leaving 12 dead and at least 48 injured.

Fans in Berlin held up thousands of lights during a poignant minute's silence before kick off. The Hertha squad had earlier laid a wreath at the site.

A second-half free-kick by Marvin Plattenhardt and a Salomon Kalou header sealed Hertha's 2-0 win to stay fourth.

In Munich, Ancelotti pulled a surprise by leaving Germany forward Thomas Mueller and French winger Franck Ribery on the bench.

- Thiago on target -

Thiago Alcantara and Douglas Costa started and the selection paid off with 17 minutes gone.

Captain Philipp Lahm fired in a cross, Lewandowski hit the post, but Thiago was waiting in the middle to convert the rebound.

A mistake by Leipzig's Naby Keita, who had recovered from a thigh injury, saw Bayern grab their second on 25 minutes.

Arturo Vidal robbed the Guinea midfielder of possession, Lewandowski sprinted clear and Thiago slipped the ball to Alonso, who fired home.

A header by Leipzig captain Willi Orban forced Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer into a diving save just before disaster struck for the visitors on 30 minutes.

Left winger Forsberg was sent off when his tackle caught Philipp Lahm on the Achilles tendon and referee Felix Zwayer pulled out a red card.

"He knew straight away that he had made a mistake, he's already apologised and we all can make mistakes," said Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuettl.

Gulacsi then conceded the penalty as it finished 3-0 at the break.

Bayern were then to let their opponent chase the ball as they enjoyed 75 percent possession, but the hosts battered the Leipzig goal in the closing minutes.

"I am proud of what the team has achieved this season, but this was a lesson for us and compliment to Bayern on the way they played," added Hasenhuettl.

Hoffenheim, the only unbeaten team in Germany's top flight, stay third after their tenth draw in 16 games as it finished 1-1 at home to Werder Bremen.

Hoffenheim's striker Sandro Wagner claimed his ninth league goal this season before Bremen's ex-Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry rescued a point.

Cologne striker Anthony Modeste gave his side a first-half lead before Bayer Leverkusen's Brazil defender Wendell equalised in a 1-1 draw.

Ingolstadt remain second from bottom after their 2-1 home defeat to mid-table Freiburg, for whom Florian Niederlechner netted twice.

source: news.abs-cbn.com