Football Round-Up: Haaland strikes again, Barcelona humbled, Crystal Palace’s unbeaten streak ends

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New Delhi: Erling Haaland continued his red-hot scoring run as Manchester City battled past Brentford while Barcelona suffered a heavy defeat in La Liga and Crystal Palace saw their remarkable unbeaten streak finally broken in stoppage time at Everton. It was a weekend full of drama, goals and storylines that could have a lasting impact across Europe.

Pep Guardiola earned his 250th Premier League win as City edged out Brentford 1-0, courtesy of Haaland’s clinical first-half finish. The Norwegian striker once again proved decisive, shrugging off Sepp van den Berg before coolly slotting home Josko Gvardiol’s cross. It was Haaland’s third goal of the week and 18th in 11 matches across all competitions this season.

Guardiola reached the 250-win milestone in just 349 games which is the fastest in Premier League history but the wasn’t without concern as midfielder Rodri limped off after just 21 minutes, raising fears of another lengthy spell on the sidelines. City, who had already lost twice in August, showed resilience to hang on despite a scrappy second half, climbing to fifth in the table heading into the international break.

Sevilla 4-1 Barcelona

In Spain, Barcelona’s recent struggles continued as they were humbled 4-1 by Sevilla, marking their heaviest defeat to the Andalusian side since 1951. The result came just days after a Champions League loss to PSG and leaves the defending champions two points behind Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Ronald Araujo fouled Isaac Romero, who then doubled the lead with a sharp counter-attack finish. Marcus Rashford pulled one back just before halftime, netting his first La Liga goal for Barca but Robert Lewandowski squandered a golden chance to equalise by missing a second-half penalty.

Sevilla made the most of their opportunities with Jose Angel Carmona and Akor Adams scoring late on to seal a famous win. The loss exposed Barca’s defensive frailties and came at a time when key youngster Lamine Yamal is sidelined with injury.

Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace’s record-breaking 19-match unbeaten streak came to an end in dramatic fashion at Goodison Park. After taking the lead through Daniel Munoz Palace looked on course to extend their run but Iliman Ndiaye equalised from the spot before Jack Grealish struck deep into stoppage time to hand Everton a 2-1 win.

The defeat was Palace’s first since April and their longest unbeaten streak in club history, one that included their maiden FA Cup triumph and a strong start in European competition. Manager Oliver Glasner admitted the loss “hurts massively” but insisted it would serve as a lesson for his side as they look to build on a remarkable six months.

With Bayern Munich now holding Europe’s longest active unbeaten streak, Palace’s incredible run finally meets its end, but the rise under Glasner shows no signs of slowing down.