Erling Haaland equals Sergio Aguero’s Champions League goal tally in Copenhagen win

Erling Haaland has equalled Sergio Aguero’s Champions League goalscoring tally after finding the net against Copenhagen this evening.

The Norwegian netted the third goal in Manchester City’s 3-1 win at the Etihad tonight, which comfortably secured their passage into the quarter-finals.

Haaland’s strike restored a two-goal lead for the hosts, after Copenhagen had halved the deficit following two early strikes from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez.

In another routine European success for the Citizens, the strike also hauled Haaland further up the Champions League scoring charts, in what has still only been a relatively brief career so far.

The goal means that Haaland has now scored 41 Champions League goals, matching the number achieved by Aguero across his career in the competition, taking him to 19th in the all-time scoring chart.

What makes the accomplishment even more remarkable is that Haaland has needed a staggering 42 fewer games, as his tally continues to be better than a goal per game.

In just 37 Champions League matches, Haaland netted eight in six for Red Bull Salzburg, 15 in 13 for Borussia Dortmund, and 18 and counting in just 19 games for Man City.

The Norwegian’s tally means that he is also now just one behind Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero, and two short of Neymar’s total in the competition.

Haaland is only halfway to matching Aguero’s tally in a City shirt though, as the Argentine remains the club’s top scorer in the Champions League with 36.

It was seen as something of a surprise that Pep Guardiola started the 23-year-old, given that the tie was almost out of sight after the first-leg win, and with a trip to Liverpool on the horizon.

The manager said afterwards that he started the striker because he wants him to build rhythm following a recent injury layoff, and with a number of potential season-defining fixtures to come.

City travel to Anfield next, then Newcastle United in an FA Cup quarter-final, before Arsenal and Aston Villa both come to the Etihad back-to-back in the Premier League.