English professional soccer's Manchester City (Man City) scored five goals, including a multi-goal performance from “monster striker” Elling Holland, to defeat Sparta Prague (Czech Republic).
City defeated Prague 5-0 on Thursday in the third leg of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League (UCL) League Phase at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England.
After Phil Foden opened the scoring in the third minute of the first half, City struggled to find the back of the net until the 13th minute of the second half, when Holland scored a fantastic 'heel volley'.
Savinho beat one defender to a cross from the right and Holland, lurking in the box, lifted his left foot high, leapt up and fired a heeled shot that rattled the net.
With his first goal in just three official matches, Holland walked slowly to share his joy with his teammates.
After City got back into the game, 토토사이트 John Stones' header from a diagonal cross by Mateusz Nunes made it 3-0 in the 19th minute, and Holland extended the gap with another multi-goal performance.
Holland added a second in the 23rd minute when he collected a ball from Nunes and finished with his right foot with two defenders in front of him.
City capped off the rout with a penalty kick wedge from Nunes in the 43rd minute.
It was Holland's fourth multi-goal game of the season. He now has 13 goals in 12 official games this season.
With their second straight win, City moved up to third place (7 points), while Prague dropped to 21st (3 points).
At the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, fellow English giants Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to three matches with a 1-0 win over Leipzig.
The Reds scored the game-winning goal in the 27th minute when Darwin Núñez slotted home following a Muhammad Salah header.
Liverpool joins Aston Villa (England) as the 'odd man out' in the league phase.
Aston Villa is first in goal differential (+6 goals) and Liverpool is second (+5 goals).
Atletico Madrid, who finished fourth in Spain's La Liga last season, lost 1-3 at home to Lille, who finished fourth in France's Ligue 1 and are also in the UCL.
Julian Alvarez opened the scoring in the eighth minute of the first half and Madrid looked to be in control, but they conceded a late equalizer to Edon Zegrova and a multi-goal performance from Canadian international Jonathan Davies.