The third round of the group stage of the Champions League was closed tonight (Wednesday) with the victory of Manchester City 0:5 against P.C. Copenhagen as Arling Holland continued to put up crazy numbers and score in bunches, before being substituted at halftime and thus preventing him from scoring a fourth hat trick in a row at the Citizens’ home stadium. The striker scored a pair (7 and 32) in what brought him to a balance of five goals in the three games of the Blues this season at the prestigious establishment.
In addition to Pep Guardiola’s mighty striker, Riyad Mahrez (55) also scored on a penalty kick and Julian Alvarez (76) after an own goal by the Danish champion.
* Holland’s two goals put him on 19 goals this season in 12 games.
* The Norwegian striker now has 28 goals in 22 matches in the Champions League.
* He scored or assisted in the Champions League in an average of 54 minutes in the top European establishment.
* With his brace against the Danes, Holland overtook Brazilian Rivaldo and Luis Suarez in the all-time Champions League scorers’ table. He did it faster than Uruguay in 51 fewer games.
* Holland has so far scored at least one goal in every game of Manchester City’s season, except for the Community Shield against Liverpool in which the Blues lost 3:1 and in the 4:0 victory over Bournemouth in the league where he scored one goal.
* Manchester City with 40 goals already this season in 12 games in all competitions from the start of the season, with eight of the games scoring at least three goals.
Haaland has now scored 1.0% of all Man City goals in PL & CL history
— Duncan Alexander (oilysailor) October 5, 2022
It’s October 5 and Erling Haaland has 19 goals ????♂️ pic.twitter.com/MS7TXh6MND
— B/R Football (brfootball) October 5, 2022
Pep Guardiola was asked at the end about Holland’s half-time substitution and his performances since joining the team: “He is not injured, he got a half-time rest. We have an important game against Southampton in the next round and we need Holland to continue playing there as well.”
The Spanish coach addressed the rumors about the striker’s release clause for Real Madrid: “It is not true, he does not have a special release clause, neither for Real Madrid nor for any other team. I feel that he is exceptionally happy to be here with us, and we will try to continue to make him feel happy at City “.
Jack Grealish who won the man of the match title told how important Holland is to the Citizens: “Copenhagen’s goalkeeper told me Charling is inhuman. Personally, I feel full of confidence after my last three games in the team. I am able to play more freely together with great players.”
Riyad Mahrez, who scored on a penalty kick after Holland was benched at halftime, was not surprised by the end result: “We made it easy for us and controlled the game. The result is definitely justified, it was nice to go back and help the team win.”