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Erling Haaland was decisive once again with two goals as Manchester City comfortable saw off Sevilla 4-0 in Spain to open their Champions League campaign.
Haaland has enjoyed a devastating start to life at City and was on fire again as he became only the fourth player to score in his first appearance for three different teams in the Champions League.
The only surprising aspect of the game was City and Haaland only managed a single goal in the first half as Sevilla looked every inch of a team desperately short on confidence.
As the hosts became more forward-thinking in the second half, City picked them off as Phil Foden capped a fine display with a goal and Haaland took his season’s tally to 12 in seven games, before Ruben Dias put the finishing touches on in stoppage time as he forced home a corner.
City opening the scoring seemed a formality amid a dominant start and the goal duly arrived in the 20th minute as Kevin De Bruyne got in behind Marcos Acuna and teed up a simple finish for Haaland.
Despite City’s control, clear-cut chances remained infrequent and Sevilla might have levelled just before the interval, but Papu Gomez smashed over after latching on to Thomas Delaney’s knockdown.
It was hardly a shock when City doubled their advantage, though. Yassine Bounou was able to make a fine save to deny De Bruyne when one-on-one, but he could do little to keep Foden’s sweeping effort out of the bottom-right corner not long after.
Foden then saw a shot parried right to Haaland for his simple second goal, and Dias rounded off an emphatic win late on with a close-range finish from Joao Cancelo’s delivery.
It is a common thought that City signed Haaland not to become even more dominant in the Premier League, but rather to make the difference when the margins are finer, like in knockout football.
City will face much sterner tests than a Sevilla side who have endured their worst start to a LaLiga season in 41 years, but this was another reminder of what this City team now has.
Both of his goals were poacher’s efforts, and considering how many chances City create against any team, there is every reason to predict Haaland leading them to European glory.