Haaland has 13 goals in nine games against Leipzig, and his 78th-minute tap-in settled a five-goal game
Manchester City led twice in Leipzig and were pegged back twice before Haaland’s late goal won it 3-2 and lifted them to seventh in the Champions League table.
Nov 5, 2026
Erling Haaland has a favourite opponent, and he admitted it afterwards. His tap-in in the 78th minute in Leipzig on Wednesday was his 13th goal in nine games against RB Leipzig, and it gave Manchester City a 3-2 win in the Champions League league phase. “I think it is the most I have scored against a club,” he said.
City needed it. They had gone ahead twice and been pegged back twice, and Leipzig came out after half-time looking the likelier side.
Two leads, two equalisers
The first goal came from nowhere. Nico O’Reilly sent a low cross into the box in the 37th minute, and Castello Lukeba turned it into his own net. Leipzig were level four minutes after the break, Ridle Baku squeezing a shot in at the near post from a tight angle with Gianluigi Donnarumma caught out.
Enzo Fernández put City back in front with a header from Iliman Ndiaye’s cross in the 58th minute. It lasted three minutes. Antonio Nusa, set up by Christopher Nkunku, drove a low shot across Donnarumma and into the bottom corner.
The winner came from Elliot Anderson’s low ball across the box, which Haaland slid in to meet. Both sides hit the woodwork as well. David Raum’s free-kick struck the crossbar with Donnarumma beaten, and Rayan Cherki hit the bar for City. Donnarumma also had to save from Christoph Baumgartner at the start of the second half.
Maresca and Haaland want more
Enzo Maresca did not pretend it had been comfortable. “We needed to be careful on transition,” the City manager said, and Haaland was blunter about the team: “I think we need to step up a bit.”
Donnarumma will not enjoy the reviews either. Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones wrote that he was “doing little to convince that he is the reliable last line of defence.”
The three points take City to nine from four games and up to seventh in the league-phase table. Their run so far reads 2-0 at Porto, a 4-2 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and a 5-1 win over AEK Athens before this. The top eight after the league phase go straight into the round of 16, and City have four games left to stay there.
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