Erling Haaland is well and truly back to business as usual after his five-goal contribution in Manchester City’s 6-2 thrashing over Luton Town.
Fittingly bagging five goals in the fifth round of the FA Cup as the holders cruised into the quarter-finals, Haaland barely wasted any time getting back on the scoresheet as he opened the scoring inside three minutes of the away fixture.
It only took him another quarter of an hour to get his second and while it looked for a brief moment like Luton might have some glimmer of hope after an absolute corker from Jordan Clark, who managed to grab two on the night, the goalscoring phenom managed a first-half hattrick on the 40-minute mark.
Clark’s second came in the 52nd minute to bring the scoreline to 3-2, once again making it look like they might have something to cling on to, only for the Norwegian number nine to resume the annihilation by grabbing his next just a few minutes later and his fifth only moments after that.
While the 23-year-old had looked somewhat off his best over the last few weeks, he did manage to find the net once again in Man City‘s last home game against Brentford and despite striking out against Bournemouth, it looks like the floodgates are once again open.
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Fans can argue till the cows come home about the level of opposition and quality of defending on the night, but the reality is that many a team have struggled in the cauldron that is Kenilworth Road and anything can happen in knockout tournaments like this — after all, that’s the ‘magic of the cup’.
Oh yeah, and he broke another record in the process before being taken off — the same thing happened the last time he scored five too. Preventing injuries/preserving players’ energy aside, Guardiola seemingly doesn’t fancy letting him score six for some, even though we all know he would.
He literally could’ve had six but Pep clearly thought five was plenty and subbed him off in the 77th minute, but it goes without saying that the legend in the making regaining his form right before the Manchester derby this weekend only spells disaster for Man United.
The Red Devils looked lacklustre in their previous game at home in the 2-1 defeat to Fulham and they haven’t won at the Etihad Stadium in their last three visits, while the Blues are now unbeaten in their last 18. Sunday is going to be a blockbuster.
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You can watch the highlights from Manchester City’s emphatic FA Cup victory over Luton and yet another star showing from Erling Haaland down below:
Marcus Rashford among those left out of England’s provisional Euro 2024 squad
Danny Jones
The first England squad for Euro 2024 has been revealed and a few notable names have not been included in the provisional list of players, namely Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.
Having had a bit of an off-season at club level as well as struggling with a number of injury issues, the 26-year-old has already been in and out of Erik ten Hag‘s team over recent weeks and months.
As a result, he has seemingly been left out of Gareth Southgate‘s first round of picks for the Euros, though the final selection for the tournament will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Despite being go-to players under the Three Lions boss in past tournaments, he and former Liverpool star Jordan Henderson look set to miss out on a summer where England are considered one of the favourites for a change, along with former Manchester City man Raheem Sterling too.
🚨 Marcus Rashford not part of initial England squad for Euro 2024. 26yo Manchester United attacker made strong impact at World Cup + selected for last camp but expected to miss out of provisional group Gareth Southgate names @TheAthleticFC#EURO2024#MUFChttps://t.co/pVHAuNX7it
Reacting to the news, ex-pro turned pundit Paul Merson admitted he was “shocked” by the decision, especially with Rashford potentially on the verge of picking up an FA Cup this weekend, though the bookies are favouring Man City, who have once again won the Premier League title this season.
Other notable exclusions include Ben Chilwell and often injury-stricken Chelsea fullback, Reece James – despite Southgate being slim on full-backs as it is – City loanee, Kalvin Phillips, as well as another United man in Jadon Sancho, who has only just regained some form out on loan at Borussia Dortmund.
Elsewhere, fellow teammates Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and youngster Kobbie Mainoo have all been chosen by the national team boss despite some lingering questions surrounding their fitness and experience.
You can see England’s Euros squad in full down below:
Once again, plenty can change between now and mid-June; drop-outs are almost inevitable when it comes to major tournaments, not to mention that the likes of the FA Cup and Champions League (with multiple England players featuring across both) could end up giving Southgate another decision to make.
Regardless, of the players that have been chosen for the Euros, England are fortunate to be stacked with plenty of talent, youth and experience. This could very well be the best chance of winning silverware fans could hope for.
What do you think, is this the team to help bring football home?
Featured Images — England/Marcus Rashford (via Instagram)
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Details of huge Manchester City parade through city centre announced
Daisy Jackson
The victorious Manchester City will be taking to the streets in the city centre once again to celebrate their historic four-in-a-row achievement.
Details of this year’s parade have just been announced, travelling from the National Football Museum and along Deansgate.
An open-top bus will carry the team and their winners’ silverware through town on Sunday, marking their unprecedented fourth Premier League victory in a row.
If previous years are anything to go by, thousands of fans will flood to the city centre to celebrate with Manchester City when they hit the streets on 26 May.
This also happens to be the same day as the Great Manchester Run, so Manchester is expected to be extremely busy.
After tens of thousands of runners cross the finish line on Deansgate, the space will be readied for the Manchester City Parade, which will take place from 7.30pm until around 9pm.
There’ll be a number of road closures in place on Sunday for both the race and the parade.
The Blues are the first ever male team since the inception of the Football League in 1888 to win four successive championships.
Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Congratulations to Manchester City. Being crowned premier league champions once again and for an astonishing fourth year in a row is an incredible achievement by the club and its players, showing once again that Manchester’s world class sporting credentials really are second to none.
“We know how much this means to fans of the club young and old – not just in Manchester but around the globe – and the homecoming parade on Sunday promises to be an unmissable night to remember for fans and players alike as they celebrate this historic title win together.”
A list of road closures over the weekend in connection with the Great Manchester Run is already available online at manchester.gov.uk/roadclosures and will be added to ahead of the weekend with any further road closures deemed necessary in order to facilitate the Manchester City parade.