Haaland breaks Norway scoring record as England are stunned by Greece | OneFootball

Haaland breaks Norway scoring record as England are stunned by Greece | OneFootball

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·10 October 2024

Haaland breaks Norway scoring record as England are stunned by Greece

Article image:Haaland breaks Norway scoring record as England are stunned by Greece

England were dealt a surprise UEFA Nations League defeat at home to Greece on a night where Erling Haaland also became Norway’s record male goalscorer.

City’s number nine grabbed a brace against Slovenia in a 3-0 win in Oslo, with the second of those strikes taking his tally to a record 34 goals in 36 appearances.


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The forward opened the scoring early on before former Crystal Palace forward Alexander Sorloth doubled the advantage soon after the restart.

Haaland made it three with his second on the hour, breaking his nation’s male goalscoring record in the process and sending his nation top of Group B3 in Oslo.

Norway face Austria on Saturday 12 October hoping to take a huge step towards guaranteeing top spot in their group.

Article image:Haaland breaks Norway scoring record as England are stunned by Greece

Three of the Blues’ England contingent, meanwhile, started at Wembley Stadium in a battle for top spot in Group B2, with John Stones wearing the captain’s armband.

He started at centre-half with Rico Lewis also figuring in the Three Lions’ back-line, while Phil Foden started in Lee Carsley’s front three.

Both sides came into the tie looking to extend their respective 100% records in Group B2, but it was the visitors who made it three wins from three with a late win over the European champions.

But before the action got under way tributes were paid to England-born Greek international George Baldock, who passed away earlier this week at the age of just 31.

Article image:Haaland breaks Norway scoring record as England are stunned by Greece

The contest began in exciting, end to end fashion, with Jude Bellingham forcing Odysseas Vlachodimos into a smart save before Vangelis Pavlidis curled wide on the counter at the other end.

But the visitors soon began to gain a foothold, with Levi Colwill sparing Jordan Pickford’s blushes with an excellent goal-line clearance after the England stopper was caught in possession.

Greece had the ball in the net from the resultant corner, but the offside flag cut Konstantinos Mavropanos’ celebrations short, before Stones made a vital block to deny Anastasios Bakasetas.

But the visitors would grab their first-ever goal at Wembley when Pavlidis fired home inside five minutes of the second half after some weak England defending, pointing to his black armband in tribute to Baldock after celebrating.

Article image:Haaland breaks Norway scoring record as England are stunned by Greece

The hosts pushed forward in search of the equaliser but were lacking inspiration, with Greece having the ball in the net another two times across the evening only to be denied by the offside flag.

The Three Lions thought they’d grabbed a point though when Bellingham fired through a crowd of bodies from the edge of the area and past Vlachodimos, despite the stopper getting a strong hand to the effort.

But there was time for one final twist, with Pavlidis grabbing his second of the game deep into stoppage time after firing home from close-range.

Lee Carsley’s side face Finland on Sunday, with kick-off in Helsinki set for 17:00.

Finally, Jeremy Doku helped Belgium to a battling 2-2 draw at Italy in Group A2.

The hosts took the lead inside 60 seconds through Andrea Cambiasso and doubled their advantage before the 25-minute mark when Mateo Retegui also found the net.

But Belgium were handed a lifeline when Italy were reduced to ten men before half-time after Lorenzo Pellegrini was given his marching orders, and they made that advantage count.

Maxim De Cuyper halved the deficit before the break with then Leandro Trossard drawing Doku and co. level after the hour, leaving the Belgians three points off the pace.

They take on France on Monday 14 October with kick-off set for 19:45.

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