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Erling Haaland the Norwegian goal-scoring machine continued his tremendous form from midweek. He scored three out of six goals on Saturday against Burnley to seal Manchester City's place in the FA Cup semi-final.
In the opening minutes of the game, the Blues made their intentions quite clear. The likes of Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Julian Alvarez didn't allow Burnley players to enjoy time on the ball. They attacked in pairs to win possession as quickly as possible and launch a counterattack. While Burnley struggled to make clear-cut chances in the first 30 minutes of the game, Manchester City got the reward for their continuous efforts in the 32nd minute of the game. Julian Alvarez beautifully slipped the ball right through the Burnley players to find Haaland. The 22-year-old striker managed to change the course of the ball with the barest of touches, to beat Burnley's goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell who came sprinting from his box to clear the ball. Within a blink of an eye, Manchester City doubled their lead with the typical possession play style of Pep Guardiola. Phil Foden recieved the ball on the halfway line ad sprinted on the flanks, he slipped the ball in with the hope of finding someone in the middle of the pitch. Erling Haaland was right there to finish the play with an easy finish. Haaland's third goal of the match came with a mixture of a bit of luck and his striker's instincts. Foden's shot ricocheted off the woodwork. The ball fell right in Haaland's feet as he easily found the back of the net to claim his hat trick. The remaining three goals included a brace from Julian Alvarez and a goal from English youngster Cole Palmer. The world cup winning Argentinian striker was assisted by Kevin De Bruyne for both of his goals. While Cole Palmer found himself in a tight place and at the right time to get his first goal of the season for Manchester City. After the game, Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola expressed his happiness about the game and the fact that his team could still end up winning the treble. In the post-match conference, he said, "We are in a good moment," "In this month, we played against Newcastle, they were so difficult, then Palace and Leipzig and then today we conceded few chances, score a lot of goals and everyone made contributions. "Everyone played well and defended set pieces well. Now we stop for the international team and then we come back." "I think Arsenal are going to drop very few points so we have win almost all the games in the Premier League," Pep said. "We will play a semi-final at Wembley again and we know the Champions League opponents, it's a great pleasure to play against Bayern Munich. "To be alive in three competitions, the important ones is so good," Pep continued. Manchester City will host Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on 1st April after the international break. (ANI)
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