Erling Haaland obliterated a Champions League goalscoring record at Etihad Stadium as Manchester City fought back from two goals down to complete a thrilling victory against RB Leipzig.
The Norway forward is the quickest player ever to score 40 goals in the competition – reaching the milestone in just 35 matches, 10 fewer than Ruud van Nistelrooy, the previous record holder.
His goal also sparked a comeback win that ensured City, already through to the last 16, secured top spot in Group G with a game to spare.
For an uncomfortable 40 minutes, it looked as though their proud 28-match unbeaten home European record was about to come to an end.
But the second-half introductions of Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku transformed City.
Within seconds, Alvarez had sent Haaland through to half the deficit – and with Doku’s running unbalancing the Leipzig defence, Phil Foden took advantage of the space he found after collecting Josko Gvardiol’s inside pass to level.
Three minutes from time, Alvarez completed the fightback, steadying himself eight yards out before delivering a precise finish to the corner after Foden had provided the cross.
The defeat was tough on Belgian forward Lois Openda, who cost Leipzig a club record fee when he signed from Lens in July – one that could reach 45m euros (£38.95m).
And he showed his quality with an excellent first-half double that had raised hopes of a shock win for the visitors on the ground where they lost 7-0 in last season’s knockout phase.
