Priceless Moments of the week: Milestones for Haaland and João Mário, late shows for Immobile and PSV
Thursday, November 30, 2023
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Erling Haaland, Ciro Immobile and João Mário are among those to take centre stage in our Mastercard Priceless Moments of the week for Matchday 5.
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Check out the record-breaking goals, late drama and intriguing storylines that defined this week's UEFA Champions League fixtures with the Mastercard Priceless Moments of the week from Matchday 5.
Haaland fastest to 40
Just days after becoming the fastest player to reach 50 Premier League goals, Erling Haaland has achieved yet another milestone in double-quick time. The Norwegian's second-half strike against Leipzig means he has needed just 35 appearances to reach 40 Champions League goals, eclipsing Ruud van Nistelrooy's previous best of 45 games. Aged 23 years and 130 days, the Manchester City striker has also surpassed Kylian Mbappé as the youngest player to hit the 40-goal mark in the competition.
Young Boys staying in Europe
Having finished bottom in their two previous Champions League group stage campaigns (in 2018/19 and 2021/22), Young Boys clinched third place in their section for the first time – and a spot in the UEFA Europa League knockout round play-offs – with victory over Crvena zvezda. An early own goal from Kosta Nedeljković and a Lewin Blum effort shortly before the half-hour mark sealed the points for Raphaël Wicky's men, who also kept their first clean sheet in the group stage at the 17th attempt.
Immobile sends Lazio through
Ciro Immobile was the difference once again as Lazio booked their place in the knockout stages with a 2-0 triumph over Celtic. Second-half substitute Immobile, who netted his 200th goal for the club in the 1-0 win over Feyenoord on Matchday 4, broke the deadlock with eight minutes of the contest remaining before completing the scoring not long afterwards, becoming the first Italian player to score twice in the final ten minutes of a Champions League match since Luca Toni in February 2009.
PSV complete dream recovery
The Dutch side's qualification hopes appeared to be in the balance as they trailed 2-0 at Sevilla but Lucas Ocampos's 66th-minute red card triggered an astonishing turn of events. Peter Bosz's men hauled themselves level with nine minutes left then broke deep into added time, allowing Ricardo Pepi to head in a dramatic winner. That goal ended PSV's run of 15 away matches in the Champions League (group stage to final) without a victory, and Lens' defeat at Arsenal later in the evening confirmed their place in the last 16.
João Mário haunts former club
The Portuguese midfielder scored four goals in 69 appearances during his time at Inter, but he grabbed a 29-minute hat-trick in Benfica's thrilling 3-3 draw against them on Matchday 5. A remarkable feat in itself, but even more so when you consider it was the first hat-trick scored by a Benfica player in the Champions League era (group stage to final) and only the second treble in the competition this season after Evanilson's three-goal haul for Porto against Antwerp.