14 March 2023 , 23:06
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Gary Lineker has been back to his mischievous best on social media in the wake of Erling Haaland's destructive performance in Manchester City's emphatic 7-0 win over RB Leipzig on Tuesday night.
The Match of the Day host landed himself in hot water with the BBC last week when he criticised the government's new Migration Bill on his Twitter account. The former England striker described the bill, which was unveiled by home secretary Suella Braverman, as “beyond awful” and said the language used was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30”.
That led to the BBC removing the 62-year-old from the air ahead of last weekend's broadcast - an act that saw a raft of his BBC Sport colleagues refuse to work in solidarity with Lineker.
The corporation eventually backtracked amid some fierce criticism and struck an agreement for Lineker to resume his role on Monday morning. And it hasn't taken the popular presenter to get back to his best on social media.
After watching Haaland demolish Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday night, Lineker reacted to the Norwegian striker's remarkable five-goal haul with a tongue-in-cheek tweet, quipping: "Think this @ErlingHaaland fella’s got something."
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After blitzing his latest multi-goal haul, Haaland has now become the youngest player in Champions League history to bag 30 goals in the tournament - breaking the record which was previously held by Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe.
Haaland's five-goal haul also broke a club record, too: the 22-year-old now has 39 goals in all competitions for City, meaning he has eclipsed the previous club record for goals in a season, which was set by Tommy Johnstone in the 1928/29 campaign with 38.
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But despite all that, the Manchester City striker still wasn't satisfied after Pep Guardiola withdrew him in the final stages of the game - which meant he was unable to complete a second hat-trick.
Speaking to BT Sport after the match, Haaland joked: “I told Pep when I went off that I would love to score a double hat-trick. But what I can do!”
Reflecting on City's victory, which earned them a spot in the tournament quarter-finals, Haaland added: “This was a big night. I am proud to play in the Champions League, I love this competition – as everyone knows. Five goals to win 7-0 at home, I am so happy!
“We worked on pressing them for this game, especially at home but in every game we need to put the opposition under pressure. We are so good at winning the ball high up the pitch and moving forward quickly, working the ball to Kevin De Bruyne.”