England international, Marcus Rashford announced himself to Barcelona fans in spectacular fashion, scoring twice in a 2-1 Champions League win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Thursday night, September 18.
The win got the Spanish champions off the mark in this season’s Champions League, while Manchester City striker Erling Haaland hit his 50th goal in the competition on a night full of European drama.
Rashford, still waiting for his first goal since joining on loan from Manchester United in July, broke the deadlock just before the hour.
He rose sharply to nod in a Jules Kounde cross, silencing the home crowd. Not long after, he doubled the advantage with a thunderous strike from outside the box that flew into the top corner.
Newcastle refused to fold and gave themselves hope when Anthony Gordon pulled one back, but Barcelona dug in and held on for three valuable points.
After the match, Rashford couldn’t hide his joy.
“It’s an amazing experience playing for Barcelona. I’ve always been a huge admirer of the club. We just want to win as much as possible,” he said.
The performance earned the Englishman the man of the match award.
Haaland Hits 50
At the Etihad, Manchester City defeated Napoli 2-0. The contest swung early when Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was shown a red card for bringing down Haaland as he powered through on goal.
The dismissal forced Antonio Conte into an early reshuffle, even sacrificing Kevin De Bruyne less than half an hour into his emotional return to the stadium.
City seized control in the second half. Haaland headed home a precise cross from Phil Foden to reach the half-century mark in Champions League goals, doing so in just 49 appearances.
Jeremy Doku then killed the game off with a second, extending Napoli’s miserable run of 13 winless games on English soil.
Guardiola was quick to underline Haaland’s place among the game’s greats.
“The numbers speak for themselves and how fortunate we are to have him,” he said. “Along with the two monsters of the past 15 to 20 years Ronaldo and Messi, Erling is there. In terms of goals he is unbelievable.”
Meanwhile, Eintracht Frankfurt produced the night’s most eye-catching scoreline, thumping Galatasaray 5-1 despite falling behind early. Goals from Can Uzun, Jonathan Burkardt (twice), Ansgar Knauff and a Davinson Sanchez own goal completed the rout.
Bayer Leverkusen were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw in Copenhagen. After Jordan Larsson gave the Danes an early lead, Alejandro Grimaldo levelled with a brilliant free-kick.
A late strike from young Brazilian Robert appeared to have sealed victory for the hosts, only for an own goal in stoppage time to rescue Leverkusen.
In Belgium, Club Brugge overwhelmed Monaco 4-1. Nicolo Tresoldi, Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken and Mamadou Diakhon all found the net before Ansu Fati scored a late consolation for the visitors.
Sporting Lisbon also began strongly, defeating Kairat Almaty 4-1. Francisco Trincao struck twice, with Alisson Santos and Geovany Quenda also scoring before Edmilson gave the Kazakh side a rare highlight.
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