Erling Braut Haaland scored his 19th and 20th goals in 14 Champions League appearances as Borussia Dortmund drew 2-2 with Sevilla to progress to the quarter-finals 5-4 on aggregate.
The 20-year-old striker opened the scoring on 35 minutes with what was his only touch in the opposition’s box in the first half, Marco Reus’ pull-back finding the Norwegian for an easy tap-in past goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
If Haaland’s 19th Champions League goal was simple, his 20th was a test of nerve in the face of drama.
Early in the second half, he bullied his way past the Sevilla defence to find the net from a tight angle only to have the goal ruled out for a foul. But the video assistant referee awarded a penalty for a shirt-pull by Jules Kounde on Haaland in the build-up.
The Norwegian took the spot-kick himself and saw both his first attempt and his follow-up saved by Bounou.
The spectacle did not end there, however, as VAR determined Bounou had moved too early off his line and the penalty was taken again, with Haaland finally slotting home to give Dortmund a 5-2 advantage in the tie.
Sevilla kept their hopes alive through a Youssef En-Nesyri penalty, before the same man’s powerful header deep in added time made the final moments nervy for the Bundesliga side.
Dortmund have reached the last eight of the Champions League for the first time since the 2016-17 season and will find out their opponents when the draw is made on 19 March.
Haaland’s remarkable stats
Fresh from scoring two goals in the 4-2 defeat by Bayern Munich on Saturday, Haaland continued his phenomenal strike rate to further add to his remarkable record.
He has now scored twice in each of his past four Champions League appearances, becoming the first player to score two or more goals in four consecutive games in the competition.
No player has scored more goals than Haaland in the competition since he made his debut in September 2019. Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski has 19 in that time.
With goal number 20 secured in tonight’s win over Sevilla, Haaland also takes the honour of being the player to score the most Champions League goals before turning 21.
Paris St-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe previously held the record with 19.
Plus, it’s the quickest a player has ever reached 20 goals in the competition, and in 10 fewer appearances than the previous record holder, Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
Haaland also surpasses Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the top-scoring Norwegian in the Champions League.
And one last stat – the Dortmund forward now has 32 goals in 30 games this season.
‘Get the cheque book out – the guy is a machine’ – what the pundits said
Former Liverpool and Tottenham striker Peter Crouch on BT Sport: “Erling Haaland is like nothing I’ve ever seen. I just don’t know how you stop him, he is like a machine.
“He is world class already, a proper number nine – I thought we had lost them. He has everything: pace, power, aggression.
“That conversion rate – you can’t give him a sniff. His movement off the ball is brilliant. He just looks angry the way he plays football.
“We keep banging on about numbers but the numbers are scary. He is walking through players like they aren’t there. It is frightening.”
Former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves on BT Sport: “Everyone is going to have to get in line and get the cheque book out.
“He makes every team in the world better.
“This guy is a machine, a goalscoring machine; he makes it look so easy. He is ruthless – he barely misses the target.
“With Haaland up front, you don’t need many chances. He is a one-man wrecking crew.”
Line-ups
B Dortmund
Formation 4-3-3
- 35Hitz
- 2MoreyBooked at 20minsSubstituted forMeunierat 90+5′minutes
- 23CanBooked at 67mins
- 15Hummels
- 14SchulzSubstituted forZagadouat 89′minutes
- 22Bellingham
- 6Delaney
- 8Dahoud
- 10T HazardSubstituted forPasslackat 67′minutes
- 9HaalandBooked at 55mins
- 11Reus
Substitutes
- 1Bürki
- 5Zagadou
- 18Moukoko
- 19Brandt
- 20Carvalho
- 24Meunier
- 26Piszczek
- 27Tigges
- 30Passlack
- 36Knauff
- 37Raschl
- 40Drljaca
Sevilla
Formation 4-3-3
- 13Bono
- 16Navas
- 12KoundéBooked at 51mins
- 20Santos SilvaBooked at 77mins
- 19AcuñaBooked at 40mins
- 8JordánBooked at 55minsSubstituted forGómezat 60′minutes
- 25RegesBooked at 76minsSubstituted forRakiticat 86′minutes
- 14RodríguezBooked at 71minsSubstituted forTorresat 79′minutes
- 7Fernández SaezSubstituted forEl Haddadiat 86′minutes
- 15En-Nesyri
- 5OcamposSubstituted forde Jongat 60′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Vaclik
- 3Gómez
- 4Rekik
- 6Gudelj
- 9de Jong
- 10Rakitic
- 11El Haddadi
- 18Escudero
- 21Torres
- 33Pastor
- 36Romero
- 42Gómez
Live Text
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Match ends, Borussia Dortmund 2, Sevilla 2.
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Second Half ends, Borussia Dortmund 2, Sevilla 2.
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Goal! Borussia Dortmund 2, Sevilla 2. Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Ivan Rakitic with a cross following a corner.
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Substitution, Borussia Dortmund. Thomas Meunier replaces Mateu Morey.
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Corner, Sevilla. Conceded by Felix Passlack.
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Foul by Munir El Haddadi (Sevilla).
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Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Munir El Haddadi (Sevilla).
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Thomas Delaney (Borussia Dortmund) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Óliver Torres (Sevilla) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Mahmoud Dahoud (Borussia Dortmund).
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Substitution, Borussia Dortmund. Dan-Axel Zagadou replaces Nico Schulz.
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Attempt saved. Mahmoud Dahoud (Borussia Dortmund) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Thomas Delaney.
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Foul by Diego Carlos (Sevilla).
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Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt saved. Jules Koundé (Sevilla) with an attempt from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Papu Gómez with a cross.
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Substitution, Sevilla. Munir El Haddadi replaces Suso.
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Substitution, Sevilla. Ivan Rakitic replaces Fernando.
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Corner, Sevilla. Conceded by Jude Bellingham.
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Attempt saved. Mahmoud Dahoud (Borussia Dortmund) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Erling Haaland.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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