Haaland scores five but others disappoint – Man City stars on international duty | OneFootball

Numerous Manchester City stars featured for their respective countries around the globe during the international break, and Erling Haaland’s display was the pick of the bunch.

The Norwegian striker has scored three in three so far in the Premier League this season and showed no sign of slowing down in his latest appearance for his country. Although Moldova may not be the strongest opponents, Haaland produced an incredibly impressive performance – scoring five goals and assisting two more in the match.

The forward became the first European player to score five goals in a single World Cup qualifier since 48 years ago. The victory continued Norway’s perfect start to qualifying. There is now a strong chance that we will see Haaland feature in the World Cup for the first time next summer.

Alongside him in his World Cup qualifying group is City’s deadline day signing Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Italian goalkeeper played in both of his country’s victories, although they were vastly different matches.

The shot-stopper kept a clean sheet in a routine win over Estonia but then leaked four goals in a dramatic clash with Israel. Admittedly he was not at fault for any of the goals, but it was still a disappointing night. Italy did eventually get across the line, with an injury time winner securing a 5-4 victory.

No City players featured for Thomas Tuchel’s England across this international break. John Stones withdrew from the squad early with an injury and James Trafford was an unused substitute in both matches.

There was more unwanted injury news handed to Guardiola after Egypt’s goalless draw with Burkina Faso. Omar Marmoush went down early after a strong challenge and was withdrawn after ten minutes as he could not continue.

The Egyptian FA have confirmed the issue is a bruised knee ligament. The forward will now undergo medical tests but is a doubt for this weekend’s match against rivals Manchester United.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Doku enjoyed a fruitful break with Belgium as they recorded a pair of 6-0 victories. The winger started in both matches against Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan, netting a brace in the latter.

Ruben Dias played every minute for Portugal as they defeated both Armenia and Hungary. Bernardo Silva played in the second match, registering a goal and an assist.

Elsewhere, Rodri came off the bench for Spain in both of their matches as he continues his return to full fitness. The European champions’ imperious form continued with a pair of comfortable wins.

New signing Tijjani Reijnders started in both of the Netherlands’ matches as they drew with Poland and defeated Lithuania. Teammate Nathan Ake joined him in the starting lineup for the second match.