Sports
Haaland hits 50 Champions League goals in Man City cruise over 10-man Napoli | The Express Tribune
MANCHESTER:
Pep Guardiola said Erling Haaland can become the Champions League’s all-time top goalscorer after reaching 50 in record time in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over 10-man Napoli.
Haaland reached his half century in Europe’s elite competition in just 49 appearances before Jeremy Doku ensured Guardiola’s men got their quest for Champions League glory off to a winning start
“The numbers speak for themselves and how fortunate we are to have him,” said Guardiola.
Haaland moved to 12th in the all-time scoring Champions League scoring charts and is barely over a third of the way to Cristiano Ronaldo’s record 141 goals.
But Guardiola believes the 25-year-old has time on his side to reach that milestone.
“Along with the two monsters of the past 15 to 20 years Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi, Erling is there. In terms of goals he is unbelievable,” added Guardiola.
“In that rhythm (he can break the record). If he can play 10 to 12 more years and maintain this progression, absolutely.”
There was no fairytale return to the Etihad for Kevin De Bruyne as his night was cut short after just 26 minutes as a result of Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s early dismissal.
De Bruyne was welcomed back like a hero just months after departing as one of City’s greatest players in the club’s history.
The Belgian’s name rang around the Etihad before kick-off, while a series of banners paid hommage to the man who contributed nearly 300 goals or assists in 422 matches during his time in Manchester.
However, Antonio Conte showed no room for sentiment as he sacrificed the 34-year-old to bolster his defence with the introduction of Mathías Olivera.
“I was very sorry I had to make that substitution, I also knew by taking him off we were going to miss some of the things he can give us,” said Conte.
“But I don’t really see that I had any other option. He understood why I had to make that decision.”
Napoli avoid humiliation
The game changing moment came when Di Lorenzo made a desperate lunge to prevent Haaland running clear on goal and wiped out the Norwegian on 21 minutes.
Referee Felix Zwayer initially thought the defender had got a touch on the ball but was instructed by VAR to review and correct his error.
Napoli held firm until half-time thanks to some spectacular goalkeeping from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
The Serbian, who had a brief spell early in his career at Manchester United, produced excellent saves to deny Rodri, Nico O’Riley and Josko Gvardiol.
Even when Milinkovic-Savic appeared beaten in first-half stoppage time, Matteo Politano got back on the line to block Tijjani Reijnders’ goalbound effort.
There was only one outcome once the Napoli rearguard was eventually breached 11 minutes into the second half.
Phil Foden’s flick found Haaland who looped a header over Milinkovic-Savic for his 12th goal in seven games for club and country this season.
Doku then delivered the knockout blow with a brilliant individual run past three Napoli defenders before slotting coolly under the onrushing goalkeeper.
Ahead of a trip to title rivals Arsenal on Sunday, Guardiola could afford the luxury of resting Haaland and Rodri during the closing stages, which resembled a training exercise as City stroked the ball around at will.
Conte conceded the Italian champions were happy just to limit the damage in what is likely to be their toughest trip of the league phase.
“We didn’t want to come out of this humiliated, because it could have happened,” added Conte.
“They could have pulled our pants down and lost 5-0 or 6-0 and we avoided that thanks to our atittude.”
Sports
Transfer rumors, news: Real Madrid plot Vinícius Júnior exit
Vinícius Júnior‘s days at Real Madrid could be numbered, while Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic is attracting interest from Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.
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TOP STORIES
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TRENDING RUMORS
– Real Madrid plan to offload Vinícius Júnior in summer 2026, Sport Bild reports. The decision was reportedly made after Los Blancos‘ 2-1 Clásico win over Barcelona 10 days ago. The 25-year-old protested against being substituted by coach Xabi Alonso and had to make a public apology. Club president Florentino Pérez reportedly feels that transferring the Brazil international; will show that no player is bigger than the club. Los Blancos are trying to renew Vini Jr.’s contract despite that stance, as they want to avoid the Brazil international driving down his €150 million valuation through his conduct.
– Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur are continuing to look at the potential opportunity to sign Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic as a free agent in the summer, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The report adds that those three clubs would offer more than what the Bianconeri are offering the Serbia international in a new contract. This comes with Juve and Vlahovic potentially being open to continuing together, but finances could be an issue with Vlahovic currently earning €12m per year and Juventus wanting his salary to be around half of that figure.
– Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank could be reunited with former Brentford striker Ivan Toney as Spurs lead the race to sign him on loan from Al Ahli, according to TEAMtalk. A permanent move is off the table as clubs don’t want to pay £30m in January, while the 29-year-old would receive a large tax bill if his contract is terminated early. West Ham United and Everton are also interested in Toney, who wants to cement his place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
– Sporting CP‘s Morten Hjulmand is on Juventus’ list of options as they look to sign a midfielder in January, reports Calciomercato. The 26-year-old’s contract includes a €60m release clause, which Sporting don’t generally want to stray far away from and will insist is met for a move to happen in the winter window. Other midfielders being considered by the Bianconeri are Newcastle United‘s Sandro Tonali and Al Hilal‘s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, although the former would be difficult to sign and there has been no contact for the latter about a January move.
– Bayern Munich are willing to go against their approach to contracts for players over 30 to see off Barcelona’s interest in Harry Kane, according to talkSPORT. The Blaugrana having been linked with the England international as a possible Robert Lewandowski replacement. The 32-year-old already has 22 goals across all competitions, and that has persuaded them to offer him a multi-year contract where they would usually only offer one year to a player of his age.
EXPERT TAKE
1:33
Moreno: Vinicius’ behaviour is harming his career
Ale Moreno talks about Vinicius Jr attitude in El Clasico when Xabi Alonso subbed him off and at the players’ scuffle after full time.
OTHER RUMORS
– Real Madrid forward Endrick has agreed to join Lyon on loan in the winter transfer window, subject to both clubs reaching a deal. (Diario AS)
– Liverpool are planning to extend Dominik Szoboszlai‘s contract and are readying a deal that will run until 2030 or 2031. (Nicolò Schira)
– Manchester United are resigned to letting winger Jadon Sancho leave for free in the summer, even though they have an option to extend the Aston Villa loanee’s contract by a year. (talkSPORT)
– Newcastle United are monitoring the progress of Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, while Tottenham Hotspur view him as a replacement for Dominic Solanke. (Football Insider)
– Everton insist that Jarrad Branthwaite won’t leave in January despite Manchester United holding an interest in the centre-back. (TEAMtalk)
– Inter Milan are looking at Sassuolo’s Tarik Muharemovic, Lecce’s Tiago Gabriel and Parma’s Alessandro Circati with centre-back Yann Bisseck‘s interest being piqued by attention from Tottenham Hotspur. (La Gazzetta dello Sport)
– Sevilla are closely monitoring Boca Juniors midfielder Milton Delgado, 20, who impressed with Argentina as they finished runners-up at the Under-20 World Cup. (Estadio Deportivo)
– Niklas Füllkrug and his agents have informed West Ham United that the striker wants to leave in January. (Florian Plettenberg)
– Several Bundesliga clubs are interested in Sporting CP forward Rodrigo Ribeiro, who could leave on a January loan with an option to make the deal permanent. (Florian Plettenberg)
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Wrexham CEO: Eriksen wanted no part of TV doc
Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson has said that Christian Eriksen initially rejected their summer approach because the former Manchester United star did not want to appear in the club’s award-winning documentary series.
Eriksen, whose heart stopped beating after he suffered cardiac arrest playing for Denmark at Euro 2020, was a free agent following his departure from Old Trafford when Wrexham, newly promoted to the Championship, made their bold move.
The club’s rise from the National League under Hollywood owners Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds has has been told in the Welcome to Wrexham series, which has won multiple Emmy awards and other industry honours.
Speaking to That Wrexham Podcast, Williamson, who was on the Inter Milan board when Eriksen played for the Serie A club from 2020-21, said: “I reached out to the agent and what was really interesting in the first call is the reaction was, ‘We don’t want his story to be in a documentary, because we’ve had plenty of opportunities for a documentary for his story.’
“He thought we were calling not because of his footballing capabilities, but because we wanted a documentary story.
“I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. I didn’t even think about that’. Obviously, I’m aware of it, but that wasn’t the reason we were calling.
“We were calling because he could potentially be an interesting footballer, we’re looking for players that could play for us in the Championship. Difference makers that could help us be competitive on the pitch.
“After I explained what our actual objectives were, trying to build a competitive squad and that I wasn’t even thinking about it from a documentary perspective, we had a great conversation.”
Williamson said the idea of signing Eriksen was “kicked around,” but the midfielder wanted to continue playing for a “first-tier club.”
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The 33-year-old eventually joined Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg in September, but Williamson said Wrexham’s transfer business benefited from their interest in Eriksen being made public.
“I wasn’t expecting the agent to come out and say what he said because I typically expect those conversations to be confidential,” Williamson said.
“But what it did was it sent a signal around the players’ market, if you will. That we were serious about being competitive.
“I think that was important because a lot of people were just saying, ‘OK, what’s Wrexham doing? You know, they’ve been a little bit quiet at the start of the market, but now they want to be competitive.’
“It opened up doors and conversations to bring in players like Kieffer [Moore], Josh [Windass], [Liberato] Cacace, Lewis O’Brien, Conor Coady.”
Wrexham subsequently broke their transfer record three times, spending a reported £10 million ($13m) on Wales striker Nathan Broadhead and £33m in total.
The Welsh club are 16th in a congested Championship table, five points from the playoffs.
“It’s going to take a few windows to really build a squad that is pushing for promotion. But it’s only going to get better and that’s what I’m excited about,” Williamson said.
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