The Erling Haaland juggernaut continues as the Norwegian netted twice in Manchester City’s 5-0 trouncing of FC Copenhagen. The Norwegian already took his goal tally to 19 in all competitions this season, even though it’s just October.
He spearheaded City’s 5-0 demolition of Copenhagen at home. The City number 9 wasted little time to get things going and opened his account with a goal inside seven minutes. He then scored his second goal of the night at the 32nd-minute mark to put the game beyond the reach of the visitors.
Davit Khocholava then diverted the ball into the back of his own net to make things worse for Copenhagen. There was no hat trick for Haaland in this game as he was subbed off at half-time.
Despite that, the goals kept flowing in the second half as Riyad Mahrez coolly converted a penalty 10 minutes into the second half while Julian Alvarez finished things off with a late fifth goal.
In Madrid, the defending European champions Real Madrid had to toil hard to secure a precious 2-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk. Los Blancos seemed to cruise in the early stages with both their Brazilian wingers Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo scoring and putting them 2-0 ahead inside the first half hour of the contest.
However, the Ukrainian side pulled one back soon through Oleksandr Zubkov to make it 2-1 heading into the break. Although Madrid controlled possession for most of the second half, Shakhtar looked dangerous on the counters and during set pieces. Despite those nervy moments, the hosts held on for the win.
Elsewhere, Lionel Messi set yet another record with a mesmerising opening goal but Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 1-1 draw by Benfica away from home at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.
The Argentine exchanged passes with Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe before a trademark curling left-foot finish from outside the box to become the first player in the history of the Champions League to score against 40 different opponents.
However, PSG’s lead lasted less than 20 minutes as Danilo scored an own goal just four minutes before half-time. Neither side managed to get their noses ahead in the second half and points were shared after 90 minutes of gruelling action in Portugal.
