Erling Haaland scored his sixth hat-trick of the season as Man City turned on the style to thrash Vincent Kompany’s Burnley 6-0 in the FA Cup quarter-final.
Kompany was given a warm reception by the Etihad Stadium but the pleasantries on the field were in short supply as ruthless Haaland scored twice in the first half to put City on the way to a fifth consecutive FA Cup semi-final.
Pep Guardiola’s purring side stepped on the gas further after the break, running Sky Bet Championship leaders Burnley ragged as Haaland grabbed his second hat-trick of the week on 59 minutes following up his five goals in 65 minutes against RB Leipzig in midweek. It’s now 42 goals for the season for the Norwegian goal machine.
Image: Cole Palmer is congratulated after scoring Man City's fifth goal against Burnley
Haaland was substituted with the game safe, before Cole Palmer and Julian Alvarez, who scored twice, got in on the scoring act.
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City will play either Manchester United, Fulham, Brighton, Grimsby, Blackburn or Sheffield United in the semi-final at Wembley.
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Kompany’s homecoming turns into the Haaland show…
Image: Goalscorers Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez celebrate during Man City's rout of Burnley
Much of the pre-match build-up had been about Kompany, who won 10 major trophies in a glittering playing career with City and has a statue outside the stadium.
Burnley started confidently but never carried the quality to truly test Stefan Ortega in the Manchester City goal. That said, City had only one shot in the match as the clock ticked towards the 30-minute mark and there were signs of frustrations in their play. Then Haaland changed all that with a quickfire double just after the half hour.
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Haaland was fed on the edge of the area by Alvarez and, although Bailey Peacock-Farrell rushed out, he instinctively poked the ball beyond the ‘keeper.
The next came three minutes later when this time Foden was the provider after a charge down the left. His low ball into the area arced invitingly for Haaland and he lifted it neatly over Peacock-Farrell.
Burnley tried to respond and Ian Maatsen forced a good save from Ortega just before the interval but City and Haaland were in no mood to relent.
Haaland completed his treble just before the hour when, as usual, he was in the right place at the right time to pounce on a rebound after Foden hit the post.
He gave Peacock-Farrell no chance as he rifled home and the score quickly became 4-0 as Kevin De Bruyne burst into the area and squared for Alvarez to tap home.
As he was in midweek, Haaland was taken off in the 63rd minute. That meant his contribution for the week totalled eight goals from just 126 minutes of action.
There was still no respite for Burnley as Foden’s cross was pushed into the path of Palmer and the substitute turned in.
The sixth came soon after as Alvarez raced onto a De Bruyne through ball and turned inside Ameen Al-Dakhil to thump home.
Wembley awaits – and on this form, they are going to take some stopping.
FA Cup key dates
- Semi-finals – Set to be played on the weekend of April 22 and 23
- Final – Saturday June 3
Haaland: Every goal means a lot to me
Haaland speaking to BBC Sport:
“It’s been a good few games, important games – 7-0 and 6-0 before the international break is impressive. I’m really happy.
“Every goal means a lot to me, every goal for the team means a lot. To win 6-0 today is an amazing thing against a really good Burnley side.
“We’re in that part of the season where we need to be at our best. This is where things get decided. We have to preform in every single game.
“The last couple of games have been finals, which is exactly what we’ve been doing.
“I’m a striker, I love scoring goals. But my focus isn’t scoring goals, it’s about getting chances and with those, there’s a good chance I’ll be scoring goals.”
Kompany: Haaland already among the greats
Burnley boss Kompany said: “I have played against the greats of this time, (Lionel) Messi, Ronaldinho, (Zinedine) Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo.
“In the end they are part of a very special elite because I think even the very best find it very difficult to stop those guys, no matter what you say, because they will find a way and someone like Erling will keep finding a way.
“The biggest thing for me is his game can still improve and that is maybe the difference with the other superstars in general, to me he looks like a superstar who is willing to improve and that is exciting to see.
“I think the goalscoring record in general puts you in a certain bracket, a certain category. I don’t need to say more than showing you his record of goals.
“That is the hardest part of the game but I see the mindset to improve. His game has improved from when he arrived six months ago and if he continues to do that he is going to have to (be considered a great) as this is not something you experience a lot.”
What’s next?
Burnley
Sunderland
Friday 31st March 7:00pm Kick off 8:00pm
After the international break, Manchester City host Liverpool in the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday April 1. Burnley can move a step closer to promotion on Friday March 31 when hosting Sunderland, live on Sky Sports.
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Sourse: skysports.com
