Relentless Haaland at the double as Man City crushes Copenhagen

MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland took his goal tally to an incredible 19 in all competitions this season with another double in Manchester City’s 5-0 demolition of FC Copenhagen in Champions League Group G on Wednesday.

Haaland wasted no time in getting City going with yet another strike in his remarkable campaign, sweeping home an early opener, before putting the game beyond the Danish side inside 32 minutes.

City kept coming and added a third six minutes before the break as David Khocholava put through his own net, with Haaland lurking just behind in the hunt for his second treble in four days.

There was to be no hat-trick for Haaland as he was withdrawn at half-time, but the goals kept coming as Riyad Mahrez slotted home a penalty before Julian Alvarez finished things off with a late fifth.

The most comfortable of victories ensured City has taken a maximum nine points in the group and needs two more to be sure of a spot in knockout stages. Copenhagen is bottom on one point from three games.

There may have been some sleepless nights among Copenhagen’s defenders after Haaland bagged his third hat-trick since joining City in the close season against Manchester United on Sunday.

It took seven minutes on Wednesday for their nightmares to become a reality in the Manchester rain, as Haaland hammered home Joao Cancelo’s pull back.

Chelsea back on track after sweeping past Milan

Chelsea got its campaign back on track in emphatic style when it brushed aside AC Milan with a dominant 3-0 home win, thanks to goals from Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reece James.

Chelsea lost 0-1 to Dynamo Zagreb and drew 1-1 at home with Salzburg in its opening two Group E games but is now right back in the mix on four points, one behind Salzburg, which beat Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 earlier on Wednesday. Milan, which hosts the Londoners next week, also has four, with Zagreb on three.

The Italian seven-time champion will have to find a lot more in the San Siro than it showed in London if it is to have a good chance of advancing to the knockout stage for the first time since 2014. Chelsea, by contrast, will travel full of confidence after rediscovering its swagger following its insipid opening games and though it still looks a long way from the side which lifted the Cup in 2021, it was solid throughout and finished clinically.

RESULTS: Manchester City 5 (Haaland 7, 32; Khocholava 39-og, Mahrez 55-pen, Alvarez 76) bt FC Copenhagen 0; Chelsea 3 (Fofana 24, Aubameyang 56, James 62) bt AC Milan 0; Juventus 3 (Rabiot 35, 83; Vlahovic 50) bt Maccabi Haifa 1 (David 75); Benfica 1 (Danilo 41-og) drew with Paris Saint Germain 1 (Messi 22); RB Leipzig 3 (Nkunku 27, A Silva 64, 77) bt Celtic 1 (N Filipe 48); Real Madrid 2 (Rodrygo 13, V Junior 28) bt Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Zubkov 39); Sevilla 1 (En-Nesyri 51) lost to Borussia Dortmund 4 (Guerreiro 6, Bellingham 41, Adeyemi 43, Brandt 75)