Didier Drogba Hails Erling Haaland After Emulating His Goal Celebration In Man City's 3-1 Win Over Young Boys In The UCL. {Watch Video}

Didier Drogba heaps praises on Erling Haaland after mimicking his goal celebration in Man City's 3-1 win over BSC Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Manchester City got the better of their Swiss opponent to book their place in the knockout stages of the competition , with top scorer Erling Haaland scoring twice for the reigning champions.

Haaland was joined on stage by former Barcelona forward Gary Lineker when collecting the Gerd Muller Trophy at the Ballon d'Or 2023 ceremony last week for scoring 56 goals in 57 games for both City and Norway last season, though he came second to Lionel Messi in the vote ranking for the top men's prize.

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba who co-hosted the award had urged the Norwegian star to mark his next goal by either emulating the celebration of Lineker or of himself.

He said: "For your next goal I challenge you, you have to choose between the Didier Drogba celebration and the Gary Lineker celebration, if you accept the challenge of course?"

"We'll see about the next goal," Haaland responded. 

"I celebrate in the moment, so I'll think of both of you when I score my next goal and will decide!"

Erling Haaland: « The new celebration? You'll see on my next goal »#ballondor pic.twitter.com/YBF0PCLU5A

— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) October 30, 2023

It was Drogba who finally won out, as Haaland kept his promise to the 45-year-old after opening the scoring on the night as they defeated Young Boys 3-1 at the Etihad stadium, which delighted the Blues fans who still have fond memories of the Ivorian legend.

After Haaland fulfilled his promise, Drogba took to Instagram, dropping a clip of the goal and the celebration and a caption. “Erling Haaland, Man of your Words."

Erling Haaland hit the Didier Drogba goal celebration after accepting the challenge at the Ballon d'Or ceremony 🙌#UCL | @rioferdy5 | @laura_woodsy | @JoleonLescott pic.twitter.com/WJy59vPniq

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 7, 2023

 Drogba scored countless Champions League goals for Chelsea, with his most valuable contribution coming in 2012 when they defeat Bayern Munich to win the competition. After many of those goals, he delivered a trademark celebration, pumping his arms out by his side.

Haaland had failed to score in the club's 6-1 Premier League win over Bournemouth during the weekend before he limped off the pitch and was doubtful for the clash against Swiss side Young Boys. But he rejoined training on Monday before featuring in Pep Guardiola's starting lineup on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old star showed no sign of any issues as he needed just over 20 minutes to find the net against Young Boys of Switzerland, as he coolly converted a 23rd-minute penalty to give his team the lead. 

The home side were comfortable throughout and doubled their advantage on the stroke of half time when Phil Foden rampaged by his marker on the right before calmly stroking a low shot into the far corner.

Haaland then added his second of the night shortly after the interval with a 25-yard strike to take his tally for the campaign to 15 in total.

It was Haaland's 39th goal in 34 Champions League games, as it helped the treble-winning striker secure a place on the list of all-time leading goal scorers in the European competition, topped by Cristiano Ronaldo with 140 goals. 

The victory to seal City's fourth victory from four in Group G, qualifying with two games to spare and will confirm top spot if they avoid defeat at home to RB Leipzig on Matchday 5.

City became the first team to qualify for the last 16 with Tuesday's win, which was their 18th in a row without a defeat in the competition. That run goes back to last season as they went all the way, beating Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul. It sets a new record for longest unbeaten run by an English side in Europe, surpassing West Ham United.

They also became the quickest side to reach 250 Champions League goals, and it was the third and final goal against Young Boys that took City to 250 in the competition. And they also reached that milestone in record time, doing so in just 119 games

Only 12 teams have hit the 250-goal mark in the competition's history, with Paris Saint-Germain the previous quickest. They did so in 172 games.

It's also the 11th season running that City have progressed to the knockout phase of the UCL.

Next up, Man City is visit to Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, while Young Boys host Luzern in the Swiss Super League on Saturday.