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Rob Dawson, Correspondent
MANCHESTER, England — Pep Guardiola said Erling Haaland‘s outrageous goal in Manchester City’s 5-0 win over Sparta Prague was “not normal for a human being.”
Haaland acrobatically finished off Savinho‘s cross in the second half with an airborne back-heel volley.
The Norwegian scored again before being substituted to make it 44 goals in 42 Champions League games and move up to 16th on the all-time list.
“I didn’t know how he scored,” said Guardiola. “For a human being, I would say no [it’s not normal]. He made a fantastic goal.
“He can touch 15 or 20 balls but have seven or eight chances. It’s unbelievable.
“He made an incredible goal, similar to [Borussia] Dortmund a few years ago. I don’t know which one is more difficult but I would say both.”
Haaland’s Man City teammate Matheus Nunes was equally in awe.
“What an amazing goal. I was speechless after that,” Nunes told TNT Sports. “When he scored a similar goal against Dortmund I was watching on TV, so to see this live, it was amazing.”
Sparta Prague coach Lars Friis was also full of praise for Haaland, who has already reached 13 goals for the season.
“What can you say, he’s maybe the best striker in the world,” said Friis.
“He’s world class. We felt we had good hands on him but then he pops up with a goal like this.
“They are the best team in the world with the best players in the world.”
City’s victory moved them up to third in the Champions League table and within sight of the knockout rounds ahead of games against Sporting CP and Feyenoord.
Guardiola’s side also set a new record in Europe’s top club competition by going 26 games without defeat — excluding shootouts — to better the run set by Manchester United between 2007 and 2009.
“We played really good again,” said Guardiola.
“I’m enjoying a lot the way we’re playing lately. We concede few, few chances.
“We create a lot and we had to be so patient. We have five games left and the target is to finish in the top eight. It’s a good advantage not to play in February.”