Erling Haaland doesn’t miss a penalty often.
Erling Haaland doesn’t often hit the goalkeeper directly when he goes one on one.
And Erling Haaland is not turning down a third invitation to score.
After hitting the bar from 12 yards in the first half of Manchester City’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich and then shooting straight at Jan Sommer in the 55th minute, Haaland might have been forgiven for thinking that That will not happen. be his Wednesday night.
But even when Haaland does miss, he still has to score. It’s as predictable as day turns into night. Death, taxes and goals of Haaland.
That’s exactly what he does, and he did it again – for the 48th time this season – in the 57th minute of a thrilling game at the Allianz Arena to fully ensure City don’t miss out on their cumulative lead of 3 : 0 after the first match.
For much of the first half, Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern ran City’s defense relentlessly. Leroy Sane seemed obsessed against his former club but couldn’t find the finishing touch.
Previous incarnations of Pep Guardiola’s team may not have been physically strong enough to exploit such a stretched game, but they are now.
Haaland enjoyed and won a head to head fight with Dayot Upamecano throughout the game. The Norwegian international was swinging his fists when, in the 18th minute – just after Sané had shot wide – referee Clement Turpin waved a red card towards Upamecano as the Bayern centre-back knocked City’s No. 9 to the ground. box.
A delayed offside flag spared Upamecano, although his luck ran out when Ilkay Gündoğan hit his outstretched arm 10 minutes before half-time.
Again Upamecano did not blush. Haaland completed his penalty, conceding a penalty for the first time in 16 attempts in all club competitions since he did so for Borussia Dortmund against Union Berlin in April 2021.
Bayern went into the break tied, losing but not losing. To be honest, they were the better side; 10 shots for City and 0.91 xG in open play versus 0.09 for the away side.
Continuous, exciting football continued after the break. Kingsley Coman, urged on by Sein, checked Ederson before the magnificent Jack Grealish slipped in Haaland at the end of City’s quick counterattack. Sommer, however, did the job.
Ederson could only watch as Coman landed a low cross on goal shortly after, but Bayern could only play with fire for so long.
Fifteen seconds later City were celebrating. Kevin De Bruyne freed Haaland, who, putting Upamecano on the lawn, crashed into the ball. About the time.
23 – Kevin De Bruyne has assisted 23 in all competitions this season, his most so far in a single Manchester City campaign (overtaking 22 goals in 2019/20) and five more than any club player Europe’s big five leagues in 2022. -23 (Lionel Messi 18). Dish. pic.twitter.com/iIbwMGRakB
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 19, 2023
Haaland scored 13 goals in the Champions League playoffs in just 10 such matches. It was his 12th goal in competition for City and matched a single season record for an English club player tied by Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 2002-03 campaign. He scores an average of a goal every 66 minutes in all competitions.
Bayern benefited from a soft handball decision of their own when Sadio Mane’s shot bounced up and hit Manuel Akanji’s arm. Joshua Kimmich took a penalty down the middle, but that was just consolation in a grand draw formation that ended 4–1 to City on aggregate.
Mane’s miss at close range and Tuchel’s order to stand in the stands for dissent completed the Bavarians’ exit from the Champions League.
Tuchel was brought in to ensure domestic success and progress in Europe. Six games in his tenure, Bayern have led the Bundesliga on goal difference alone, while City will play Real Madrid in the last four.
2/6 – Thomas Tuchel won only two of his first six games in all competitions for Bayern Munich. The last FCB head coach to win only two of his first six games was Søren Lerby in 1991. #FCBMCI #Champions League pic.twitter.com/TSUkImnT7F
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) April 19, 2023
This is a rematch of last season’s semi-final, when City dominated the first leg but capitulated at the end of the second.
After being turned down by Tuchel at Porto two years ago, City – the third English side to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals in three consecutive seasons – has already put a ghost to rest. Now it’s time for something else, and with Haaland on board and shooting, it might be their time.