Champions League: Erling Braut Haaland makes history against Napoli

Erling Braut Haaland, the 19-year-old attacker, has been scoring goals for fun this season. On a night when Lionel Messi was busy rewriting the Champions League history books, Haaland got to write a whole new chapter of his own as he became the first player to score six goals in his first three games. 

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Erling Braut Haaland's season so far

Erling Haaland is fast becoming one of the most sought after strikers in European football after his goalscoring exploits this season with Red Bull Salzburg. He has already scored 20 goals in 13 games for Salzburg in all matches while netting four hat-tricks in the process. He became the third-youngest player to score a Champions League hat-trick when he scored for Salzburg in the 6-2 win over Belgian side Genk last month. On October 3, he scored the equalizer against Liverpool within five minutes of coming on to stun Anfield. On Wednesday night, though Salzburg lost the game, Haaland stole the headlines as he scored a brace against Napoli to make history. After having a goal ruled out by VAR, he scored from the spot in the 40th minute and then followed it up with a power header past Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret. 

In May 2019, Haaland scored nine goals in a single game for Norway's Under-20 team as they defeated Honduras 12-0 in a World Cup game. On August 28, 2019, Haaland was named by manager Lars Lagerbäck in the Norway senior team squad to face Malta and Sweden in 2020 Euro qualifying matches. He made his debut on 5 September, 2019, in a 2-0 victory against Malta playing 66 minutes.

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The Norwegian's father Alf-Inge Haaland played in the English Premier League with Manchester City and Leeds United. He spent his early footballing career at Norwegian side Bryne before moving to Molde, where he was managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Haaland's goalscoring exploits will not have gone unnoticed with speculations already linking the forward with a move to link up with Norwegian coach Solskjaer at Manchester United.

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