Erling Braut Haaland: RB Salzburg win thanks to teenager's first-half hat-trick

Soak it up - Erling Braut Haaland has already scored 17 goals this season

Are we witnessing the emergence of European football's latest superstar centre-forward?

Erling Braut Haaland scored a first-half hat-trick on his Champions League debut as RB Salzburg hammered Genk 6-2 in their group-stage opener on Tuesday.

It was the 19-year-old Norwegian's third treble of a season that has seen him score a remarkable 17 times in nine appearances for his Austrian side.

This came after he netted just the nine times in a single game this summer as Norway thrashed Honduras 12-0 at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Poland.

If the surname sounds familiar there is good reason - he is the son of Alf-Inge Haaland, who spent a decade playing in England for Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Manchester City.

Born in Leeds during his father's spell in West Yorkshire, Haaland scored the first, second and fourth goals of Salzburg's emphatic victory.

His opener was tucked in right-footed from just inside the area, before adding the second with his left foot after more great work from Hwang Hee-chan. His third - against a wide-open Genk side - was tucked in after a low left-wing cross.

'He'll become one of the best in the world'

'Positive, energetic, electrifying...'

‪Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch was asked after his side's win to describe his striker in three words: "Positive. Energetic. Electric. Or maybe electrifying!" he said. That's four, but we know what you're saying.

"He is phenomenal," said team-mate Max Wober. "With his height, to be so nimble and have such command of the ball. It's really hard to play against him in training; you just have to foul him.

"Once again, he proved why he's definitely going to become one of the best strikers in the world."

The forward himself set his sights on a run deep into the competition - citing Ajax's semi-final last season as inspiration.

"Everything is possible. We all saw Ajax last year, it would be nice to be the new Ajax," he said.

"But we know there are lot of good teams. It's hard, but everything is possible."

Raul, Rooney, Haaland?

At 19 years and 58 days, Haaland is the third youngest player to score a Champions League hat-trick, behind Real Madrid legend Raul (18 years 113 days in 1995) and former Manchester United man Wayne Rooney (18 years 340 days in 2004).

Haaland is the first teenager to score more than once on his Champions League debut since Rooney scored his hat-trick against Fenerbahce in September 2004, and is the third player to score in the first two minutes of a match on his Champions League debut, after Andreas Moller in 1995 and Eliaquim Mangala in 2009.

Debut hat-tricks in Champions League
Player	Game	Date
Marco van Basten*	AC Milan 4-0 IFK Gothenburg	25/11/1992
Faustino Asprilla	Newcastle 3-2 Barcelona	17/09/1997
Yakubu Aiyegbeni	Maccabi Haifa 3-0 Olympiacos	24/09/2002
Wayne Rooney	Manchester United 6-2 Fenerbahce	28/09/2004
Vincenzo Iaquinta	Udinese 3-0 Panathinaikos	14/09/2004
Grafite	Wolfsburg 3-1 CSKA Moscow	15/09/2009
Yacine Brahimi	Porto 6-0 BATE Borisov	17/09/2014
Erling Braut Haaland	RB Salzburg 6-2 Genk	17/09/2019

*Van Basten ended with four on his debut, a feat as yet unmatched.

The teenager has some work to do when it comes to hat-tricks, though. The world's best two, Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo, have both scored eight in the Champions League alone.

Erling was born in Leeds - where dad Alf-Inge played from 1997 and 2000

The next best haul is three - managed by Filipo Inzaghi, Mario Gomez and Luiz Adriano.

There's no chance of Haaland turning out for the Three Lions - as he already has caps for Norway - but we may well see him in England one day.

In an interview in 2017, he admitted his dream was to win the Premier League with hometown club Leeds.

One step at a time...

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

RB Salzburg

• 1Stankovic
• 43KristensenBooked at 47minsSubstituted forFarkasat 83'minutes
• 15Ramalho
• 39Wöber
• 17Ulmer
• 28BernedeBooked at 50mins
• 16Junuzovic
• 18Minamino
• 14SzoboszlaiBooked at 62minsSubstituted forOkugawaat 62'minutes
• 9Hwang Hee-Chan
• 30HaalandSubstituted forDakaat 72'minutes

Substitutes

• 4Ashimeru
• 6Onguéné
• 20Daka
• 23Köhn
• 25Farkas
• 37Okugawa
• 45Mwepu

KRC Genk

• 28Coucke
• 31Maehle
• 6Dewaest
• 33Lucumí
• 21Uronen
• 7ItoSubstituted forBongonda Mbul'Ofeko Batomboat 45'minutesBooked at 58mins
• 25Berge
• 17Hrosovsky
• 77NdongalaSubstituted forHagiat 72'minutes
• 8HeynenSubstituted forOnuachuat 85'minutes
• 10SamattaBooked at 83mins

Substitutes

• 2de Norre
• 4Wouters
• 18Onuachu
• 23Hagi
• 26Vandevoordt
• 27Bongonda Mbul'Ofeko Batombo
• 46Cuesta

Referee:

Felix Zwayer

Attendance:

29,520

Match Stats

Home TeamRB SalzburgAway TeamKRC Genk

Possession

Home46%

Away54%

Shots

Home26

Away10

Shots on Target

Home13

Away4

Corners

Home6

Away6

Fouls

Home18

Away5

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, FC Red Bull Salzburg 6, KRC Genk 2.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+5'

Second Half ends, FC Red Bull Salzburg 6, KRC Genk 2.

Posted at 90'+4'

Attempt missed. Takumi Minamino (FC Red Bull Salzburg) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Antoine Bernede.

Posted at 90'+2'

Attempt missed. Patson Daka (FC Red Bull Salzburg) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Andreas Ulmer with a through ball.

Posted at 90'+1'

Attempt missed. Takumi Minamino (FC Red Bull Salzburg) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Andreas Ulmer with a cross.

Posted at 90'+1'

Attempt saved. Patson Daka (FC Red Bull Salzburg) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Patrick Farkas.

Posted at 90'

Attempt blocked. Patson Daka (FC Red Bull Salzburg) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Andreas Ulmer.

Posted at 89'

Attempt blocked. Patrick Farkas (FC Red Bull Salzburg) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

Posted at 88'

Corner, FC Red Bull Salzburg. Conceded by Jhon Lucumí.

Posted at 88'

Attempt blocked. Takumi Minamino (FC Red Bull Salzburg) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Zlatko Junuzovic.

Substitution

Posted at 85'

Substitution, KRC Genk. Paul Onuachu replaces Bryan Heynen.

Posted at 85'

Attempt missed. Mbwana Samatta (KRC Genk) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Theo Bongonda.

Posted at 84'

Corner, FC Red Bull Salzburg. Conceded by Joakim Maehle.

Substitution

Posted at 83'

Substitution, FC Red Bull Salzburg. Patrick Farkas replaces Rasmus Kristensen.

Booking

Posted at 83'

Mbwana Samatta (KRC Genk) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 81'

VAR Decision: No Red Card Mbwana Samatta (KRC Genk).

Posted at 80'

Foul by Mbwana Samatta (KRC Genk).

Posted at 80'

Zlatko Junuzovic (FC Red Bull Salzburg) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 80'

Attempt saved. Hwang Hee-Chan (FC Red Bull Salzburg) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

Posted at 80'

Attempt saved. Patson Daka (FC Red Bull Salzburg) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Hwang Hee-Chan.

Posted at 77'

Corner, KRC Genk. Conceded by Cican Stankovic.

Posted at 77'

Attempt saved. Bryan Heynen (KRC Genk) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Sander Berge with a cross.

Posted at 76'

Corner, KRC Genk. Conceded by Maximilian Wöber.

Posted at 76'

Attempt blocked. Ianis Hagi (KRC Genk) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Joakim Maehle.

Posted at 74'

Attempt missed. Rasmus Kristensen (FC Red Bull Salzburg) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Patson Daka.

Posted at 74'

Attempt blocked. Zlatko Junuzovic (FC Red Bull Salzburg) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Patson Daka.

Posted at 74'

Ianis Hagi (KRC Genk) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 74'

Foul by Masaya Okugawa (FC Red Bull Salzburg).

Substitution

Posted at 72'

Substitution, FC Red Bull Salzburg. Patson Daka replaces Erling Haaland.

Substitution

Posted at 72'

Substitution, KRC Genk. Ianis Hagi replaces Dieumerci Ndongala.

Posted at 71'

Attempt saved. Jere Uronen (KRC Genk) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Joakim Maehle.

Posted at 70'

Attempt missed. Maximilian Wöber (FC Red Bull Salzburg) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Andreas Ulmer with a cross following a set piece situation.

Posted at 69'

Hand ball by Dieumerci Ndongala (KRC Genk).

Posted at 68'

Bryan Heynen (KRC Genk) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 68'

Foul by Zlatko Junuzovic (FC Red Bull Salzburg).

Goal!

Posted at 66'

Goal! FC Red Bull Salzburg 6, KRC Genk 2. Andreas Ulmer (FC Red Bull Salzburg) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Zlatko Junuzovic.

Posted at 63'

Patrik Hrosovsky (KRC Genk) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 63'

Foul by Zlatko Junuzovic (FC Red Bull Salzburg).

Posted at 63'

Foul by Patrik Hrosovsky (KRC Genk).

Posted at 63'

Andreas Ulmer (FC Red Bull Salzburg) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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