Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland continued his sensational scoring form with two goals in a 3-0 over Club Brugge in Group F of the Champions League.
The 20-year-old, one of the most coveted young players in the game, has now scored 14 Champions League goals in 11 games — no player has scored as many in so few games.
Haaland has scored as many goals in European football’s premier competition as greats such as George Weah, Zinedine Zidane and Ian Rush.
However, he still has some way to go to close in on Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time record of 131 goals.
“It was a good night and three important points,” Haaland told reporters after a win that puts the Bundesliga club top of the group.
Haaland, who joined the German outfit in January, has scored 26 goals in 28 games in all competitions for his club.
Elsewhere in the competition, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s job as Manchester United head coach may be hanging by a thread following a shock 2-1 defeat to Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir.
Multiple reports in the British media have suggested the Norwegian manager could be sacked should United fail to beat Everton in the English Premier League this coming weekend.
However, that process may well be accelerated after a comical defensive performance against the reigning Turkish champion.
One of the worst pieces of defending you are ever likely to see — amateur football included — gifted Basaksehir an early lead, as former Premier League striker Demba Ba had the entire half of the pitch to himself to run onto the ball and slot past United goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Things didn’t get much better from there, as Deniz Turuc picked Juan Mata’s pocket and laid the ball on a plate for Edin Visca to double the lead.
Anthony Martial did pull a goal back just before half-time, but a stale and uninspired second half performance meant United was unable to find an equalizer.
The Champions League has provided Manchester United with some respite from its Premier League woes in recent weeks, but for the first time this season its poor domestic form seeped into Europe.
United sits a lowly 15th in the Premier League with just two wins from its opening six games following Sunday’s insipid 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.
But impressive Champions League victories against last season’s beaten finalist Paris Saint-Germain and German side RB Leipzig have provided Solskjaer something of a lifeline.
However, should the 47-year-old find himself out of a job, a new manager is unlikely to be enough to turn the club around.
United has problems that run deep. In the Glazer family it has an owner that has racked up eye-watering amounts of debt, and in Ed Woodward it has a chief executive that has spent vast sums of money in a playing squad that remains behind its rivals.
Solskjaer’s reign has been more curious than most. Just when it looks as though his job is on the line and the team has stopped playing for him, his players will turn in the kind of performances they did against Newcastle, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig.
But in the defeat to Basaksehir, there wasn’t even a hint that the team was playing for its manager.
Solskjaer may still be in a job by the time United travel to Everton on Saturday, but another defeat could likely spell the end of his time in charge.
In Group G, a fifth minute Lionel Messi penalty set Barcelona on its way to a 2-1 win over Dynamo Kyiv, giving the La Liga club its third win in this season’s competition.
A Gerard Pique header doubled Barcelona’s lead before Viktor Tsygankov scored late in what proved to be a consolation strike.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.