Manchester City 5-0 Sparta Prague: Haaland scores stunner as City hit five

Manchester City made light work of Sparta Prague in their third Champions League game of the season, notching five goals in a dominant display at the Etihad Stadium.

Phil Foden scored early into the first half, but City rested on their laurels until half time, giving the visitors ample opportunity to test the goal.

In the second half, it was a different story. Erling Haaland pulled off a remarkable acrobatic finish to double the hosts’ lead, and from then on they were merciless, with John Stones and Matheus Nunes also getting on the scoresheet, with the Norwegian bagging himself a brace in the process.

As it happened

With PSG and Juventus on the horizon for Manchester City, the value of a result against Sparta Prague was obvious. But this wasn’t necessarily going to be a cakewalk; the visitors were yet to lose in the Champions League, taking a big scalp in their 3-0 win over Red Bull Salzburg in their opener before drawing with Stuttgart. The hosts needed to be careful; they couldn’t be complacent.

That’s one of City’s biggest strengths, though. Pep Guardiola has drilled into his side a level of professionalism few sides in Europe can match. The fact they would take the lead in the third minute is testament to that ethos.

Phil Foden has had a slower start to the season than he might have liked, but there was nothing slow about this early goal. Picking up the ball outside the area, his first touch was perfect, taking him away from both Qazim Laçi and Kaan Karinen. From there, he had more than enough room to breathe. He drove into the box and fizzed a shot low and hard into the bottom corner. There was nothing goalkeeper Peter Vindahl could do about it.

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After going ahead, they had their eyes firmly set on more – and they very nearly doubled their lead in the 10th minute, Erling Haaland pulling off a leap only he can to nod the ball goalwards. The ball was looping towards the bottom corner and Vindahl had to scramble, but he managed to get down just quickly enough to push the ball wide. Sparta were all out at sea, their worst fears looking very much like a reality.

But then City took their foot off the gas. Not quite complacent; but nowhere near as ruthless as they should have been.

The first big chance for the visitors came in the 18th minute, with Ángelo Preciado sprinting away from Ilkay Gündoğan and Manuel Akanji to break into the City half. With acres of grass between him and the goal, the Ecuadorian international made the snap decision to try and lob Stefan Ortega – and he got it horribly wrong, the ball cannoning over the goal. It was a real let-off for the hosts.

But the chances kept coming; Veljko Birmančević tried his luck twice, first with a fierce low drive and then a header wide. Lukáš Haraslín would also attempt a more than ambitious overhead kick which ballooned well over the bar.

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City controlled the ball as ever, but they were leaking chances. It has been a habit of their campaign; they’d only kept three clean sheets all season, despite not losing once. On the attacking end, all they could muster before halftime were potshots: Foden hit two from outside the area to no avail, Savinho would drag one wide from the edge of the area and Haaland – besides his saved header – would only shoot once, an effort blocked immediately by Filip Panák.

His side were ahead, but Pep Guardiola was not a happy man as the teams were called into the break. Whatever he said during the interval clearly worked because in the second half, Manchester City were no longer taking prisoners.

Only two minutes into the half, they had the ball over the line for the second time, Nathan Aké bundling the ball home following a goalmouth scramble from a corner – but it struck his hand, and upon review, the goal was ruled out.

Not to worry; they were not done yet.

It took ten more minutes for their next big chance, another Haaland header, this time down the throat of Vindahl. Keeping him out is a double-edged sword; if you can silence him in a game, you’ve neutralised City’s biggest goal threat. If you allow him chances which he then misses, you risk poking the bear and motivating him even further. Unfortunately for Sparta, this was a case of the latter.

So, one minute after his latest failed attempt, he did something very special. Savinho did well down the right-hand side, his quick feet taking Matěj Ryneš out of the equation before whipping in a terrific ball into the area.

In the centre of the box was Haaland, waiting, his back to goal. Most players would’ve nodded the ball goalwards, but not him. Instead, he launched himself into mid-air, still not facing his target, and swung a flying backheel past a flailing Vindahl. It was more Shaolin Soccer than Champions League football; it was a kung fu kick on a football pitch. It was a moment of pure improvised genius from a striker like no other.

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By now, the floodgates had well and truly opened. Two would soon become three, John Stones looping a tremendous header over a rooted Vindahl. Then, only three minutes later, three became four, Haaland bagging his brace to finish off a tremendous team move that began with Rico Lewis driving the ball from his own box to the opposition half, before a tiki-taka-esque exchange between Foden and Matheus Nunes set up the Norwegian to check onto his right foot and slot a simple finish into the far corner.

Finally, right at the end, the game was wrapped in a bow; Nunes went down under a very late challenge from Preciado in the box, a penalty awarded immediately and under no scrutiny. Up stepped the man who won it, the Portuguese international proceeding to blast it into the top left corner. This was a big game for him, perennially on the fringes since joining from Wolves in the summer of 2023; a goal and two assists will do him the world of good.

It was a second half of pure dominance. Sparta didn’t get so much as a sniff of Ortega’s goal, and City took full advantage. The result sends them all the way up to third in the Champions League table, having scored nine goals in their last two outings.

In many ways, Sparta Prague probably expected the game to go a little along these lines, though they’ll be left ruing the missed chances in the first half. The result leaves them 21st in the table, clinging onto the play-off spots with high-flying Brest their next opponents.

Result aside, there’s only going to be one talking point after this game: Erling Haaland, the man who defies gravity. He’s now scored more Champions League goals than Neymar, and he’s only one behind Didier Drogba. As for when he’ll fall back down to earth? That’s anyone’s guess.

The lineups

MCI: Ortega; Aké, Akanji, Stones, Lewis; Nunes, Bernardo, Gündoğan; Foden, Haaland, Savinho

SPA: Vindahl; Sörensen, Panák, Vitík; Ryneš, Karinen, Laçi, Preciado; Haraslín, Olatunji, Birmančević