Erling Haaland ensured the battle for the World Cup’s golden boot is not a two-horse race with an electrifying brace in Norway’s 3-2 win over Senegal in New Jersey.
After Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe added to their tallies for the tournament to five and four respectively, the Manchester City forward kept himself within a goal of Messi as he scored a quickfire couple after the half-time break.
Norway opened the scoring in the 43rd minute when Marcus Holmgren Pedersen capitalised on a defensive howler from Kalidou Koulibaly to sneak a ball past goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Haaland got his first almost immediately after the break when he found himself in the perfect position to fire home a brilliant counter-attacking run and pass from Martin Odegaard.
Senegal struck back five minutes later through Ismaila Sarr, but Haaland restored Norway’s advantage in the 57th minute with a deft first-touch strike that was lofted over Mendy and into the back of the net.
