Erling Haaland has become the quickest player to reach 50 Champions League goals, after he scored the opener in Manchester City's 2-0 win over Napoli. The Norwegian reached the tally in just 49 games, easily surpassing Ruud van Nistelrooy's previous record. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid marksman reached his half-century in his first 62 appearances in the competition.
Haaland scores header in Napoli win
It appeared Haaland could be made to wait for the landmark, as Napoli managed to frustrate City for the best part of an hour at the Etihad, despite captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo being given his marching orders for a professional foul on the Norwegian in the 25th minute. City found the breakthrough when Haaland latched onto a Phil Foden flick, looping a header past the brilliant Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the Napoli net.
AdvertisementAFPHaaland smashes van Nistelrooy's record
Haaland has proven to be a dominant force in European club football's biggest stage since he announced his arrival back in 2019. He was the first and only player to score a first-half hat trick on debut in the competition, a 6-2 win for Red Ball Salzburg over Genk; the then 19-year-old striker would go on to score in his first five Champions League games. Haaland has maintained that frightening pace as he moved to Borussia Dortmund, and then City, beating van Nistelrooy's previous record by 13 appearances.
How Erling Haaland has scored his Champions League goals
The Norwegian phenom has unsurprisingly bagged the majority of his efforts with his favoured left foot, scoring 34 goals on his stronger side, against 11 with his right and five headers. Haaland has scored the most against Sevilla and RB Leipzig, notching six goals in those respective head-to-heads. Five of those goals against Die Bullen came in the second leg of the 2023 Round of 16.
AFPHaaland and City build momentum ahead of Arsenal clash
The victory over Napoli was the perfect preparation for the Cityzens' upcoming Premier League clash with Arsenal. Not only did key players including Haaland, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku all put in outstanding performances, Pep Guardiola was able to rest many of his presumptive starting eleven after the hour mark. After tallying two wins and two losses thus far in the league, it is already a crucial fixture if City have aspirations of challenging for the Premier League crown in 2025/26.