Manchester City thrashes Sparta Prague in the third round of the Champions League
Guardiola’s team opens the scoring after two minutes with Foden, and the Norwegian striker scores a stunning volley
SUMMARY
Manchester City thrashed Sparta Prague 5-0 in the third round of the Champions League on Wednesday. At the Etihad Stadium, the home side needed just two minutes to open the scoring, with Phil Foden scoring . Haaland scored twice, and Stones and Matheus Nunes completed the scoring. The result maintains City’s unbeaten run in the Champions League, now 26 matches without a defeat. Guardiola’s team moves up to third place in the league phase, with seven points, while Sparta Prague drops to 21st, with four.
THE UNSTOPPABLE HAALAND
Erling Haaland scored twice in the match against Sparta Prague. One of them, in fact, was a stunning goal à la Ibrahimovic. The Norwegian striker now has 44 goals in the history of the Champions League, equaling Drogba and being in 17th place in the competition’s scoring charts. He also surpasses Neymar, who has 43. In the 2024/25 season, Haaland has 16 goals in 16 matches , adding up the tournaments for City and the Norwegian national team.
HOW WAS THE GAME?
It took Manchester City just two minutes to find the net. In the first attack of the game, Akanji found Phil Foden free on the edge of the penalty area to shoot into the goalkeeper’s corner . Vindahl was responsible for preventing the score from getting any bigger in the first half. A minute into the second half, Aké found the net after a rebound from a corner. However, the referee disallowed the goal for a touch on the full-back’s arm.
The game’s greatest goal came in the 12th minute of the second half. Savinho made a great move on the right. He took the ball to the bottom, crossed, and Haaland volleyed it in with his back to the goal. Six minutes later, Matheus Nunes lifted the ball for Stones to head the ball over the keeper. The number 9 extended the lead in the 22nd minute, in a counterattack that started with Rico Lewis, passed Foden and found Haaland entering the area . He beat his marker and hit a cross to shake the net. Matheus Nunes closed the scoring from the penalty spot , after he himself was brought down in the area by Preciado.
