Erling Haaland double fires Norway to 3-1 win over Cyprus in ‘good reaction
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Erling Haaland of Norway taking a shot in the Euro 2024 qualifier against Cyprus.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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OSLO – Erling Haaland’s mantra is always to be hungry and not be satisfied with the number of goals he has scored, despite a record-breaking first season at Manchester City.
On Tuesday, the striker continued his momentum by scoring twice in the second half as Norway cruised to a 3-1 home win over Cyprus to get their Euro 2024 Group A campaign back on track, after a shock 2-1 home defeat by Scotland in their previous game.
The win lifts the Norwegians to third in the five-team group on four points from four matches, behind second-placed Georgia on goal difference while Scotland top the group with 12 points from four games.
Haaland’s brace means that he has now scored 24 goals for Norway, surpassing Tore Andre Flo and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while he is level with John Carew.
“It would have sounded better with 25 goals, but that’s how it is. We have to work on it,” he said.
The home side broke the deadlock in the 12th minute as Alexander Sorloth’s cross from the right flew just over Haaland’s head but dropped perfectly for Ola Solbakken to blast home his first international goal.
Haaland then converted a penalty in the 56th minute and followed that up with another powerful finish on the hour to take his season tally for club and country to 56 goals, the most of any player in the top five European leagues and two more than France’s Kylian Mbappe.
He had 52 goals for City as they won the treble.
Grigoris Kastanos scored a stoppage-time consolation for the visitors to reduce the deficit but it could not spoil the party as the Norwegians chalked up their first win in the group.
“Good reaction (after the loss to Scotland). It was about restarting and looking ahead to the next one,” added Haaland.
“It is of course important to show those who come to the match that we can deliver. It means a lot that people come and watch, we really appreciate that.”
In Group F, stand-in captain Romelu Lukaku scored twice in three minutes and Johan Bakayoko netted his first international goal as Belgium ended a tumultuous few days with a 3-0 away victory over Estonia.
The visitors had been rocked by a row between new coach Domenico Tedesco and veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the build-up to the game, and made a slow start before Lukaku pounced with two close-range finishes towards the end of the first half.
Tedesco said on Monday that Courtois refused to travel to Estonia after he felt disrespected when, in the absence of injured regular skipper Kevin de Bruyne, Lukaku was named captain for the 1-1 weekend home draw with Austria.
But Courtois has angrily denied this, saying he is nursing a knee injury and had been advised by doctors to skip the game.
Austria lead the table with 10 points from four games, with Belgium in second place on seven points from three matches. Estonia have a single point from their three fixtures. REUTERS
