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.
Erling Haaland is the first player to score 5+ goals in a single Champions League game and 5+ goals in a single FA Cup game.
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:
Wayne Rooney joins the cast of Gary Neville’s The Overlap
Danny Jones
Wayne Rooney has secured a new job just a few months on from departing as Birmingham City head coach, with the Manchester United and England legend being named as the latest member of The Overlap team.
Set to join the cast of the popular Stick to Football online series alongside the likes of former teammates Gary Neville and Roy Keane, as well as the rest of the recurring panel.
Rooney is also set to feature on various other shows across The Overlap channel, including the likes of their regular fan debates and other interviews with athletes and well-known figures.
They announced the signing in true transfer window fashion as well.
As transfer expert Fabrizio Romano quips in the video, Rooney “has signed an agreement with The Overlap” and is expected to make his debut very soon
‘Wazza’ has appeared as a pundit on Sky Sports in recent weeks and has even been spotted playing some FIFA with comedy YouTuber AngryGinge as part of his pro clubs series, but hasn’t been in a steady role since being sacked as the Birmingham manager at the start of the year.
Having already appeared as a guest in one of the most popular episodes of Stick to Football and clearly sharing a strong chemistry with his old friends – as well as the likes of fellow Scouser Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright – it looks to be a natural fit for the sport-based channel.
The 38-year-old revealed some pretty interesting details about his playing and managerial career last time around, not to mention some of the other offers he’s had since…
Rooney reiterated during his own interview that his primary focus is still on coaching and finding his next managerial role, but for the time being, he’ll be bringing the insight of another ex-pro to the popular YouTube channel.
Speaking on his latest move, the former striker said, “I’m excited to announce that I will be joining my good mate Gary Neville and the team at The Overlap to appear on the channel across some of their brilliant shows on YouTube and the podcast. I can’t wait to get started”.
With an episode from at least one of their series going out most weeks, you can expect to see the footballing legend back on the channel soon.
Featured Images — The Overlap/Wayne Rooney (via Instagram)
Sport
Manchester City star Erling Haaland is now a playable character in Clash of Clans mobile game
Danny Jones
In yet more proof that footballers just live in an entirely different world from us, Manchester City star Erling Haaland has popped up in the popular mobile game, Clash of Clans – and it’s not just a little cameoeither.
Haaland‘s no stranger to the odd brand deal, so when we saw him cutting a promo for Clash of Clans we weren’t too surprised, but it’s safe to say we weren’t expecting to see footballers pop up in video games besides FIFA (sorry, EA FC) at any point this year.
The big number nine is not just a famous face to help push the already hugely popular mobile strategy and city-building game, they don’t need it; it turns out the lethal goalscorer is now going to be an actual playable character in the latest Clash of Clans update.
He even turned his hand to a bit of acting in the trailer:
As you can see, the 23-year-old stars in the new advert which sees troops appear in his home whilst he’s playing the game before being sucked into the game world.
Starring as the Barbarian King, he’s the first real person to ever feature in the game and will be available through a month-long football-themed seasonal event in-game.
When we stop and think about it, the Norwegian striker is pretty much a perfect fit given his Scandinavian heritage and the obvious Viking theme surrounding the franchise – not to mention the fact that he’s apparently been playing the game since he was 10.
He’s also been dropping a hint or two of late, in case you didn’t pick up on them.
Speaking on the collaboration, Haaland said: “I’ve been a huge fan of the game for a long time and know everything about it, so to appear as an in-game character is really cool”.
As for Finnish developer-publishers Supercell, CoC’s general manager Stuart McGaw said in an official announcement: “When we heard Erling Haaland was a fan of our game and that he wanted to partner with us, it was really a dream scenario.”
Haaland will be available to recruit in the game until 31 May, plus, if players raid his village and take down the Barbarian King himself, they can win additional rewards and a place on the leaderboards.
Danny Jones -
27th February 2024 
