Tag: Sebastien Haller

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UCL: HALLER NETS FOUR AS AJAX HAMMERS SPORTING CP IN LISBON

Sebastien Haller scored four goals as Ajax Amsterdam picked apart Portuguese hosts Sporting CP for a one-sided 5-1 victory at the start of their Champions League Group C campaign on Wednesday.

The tall striker netted twice in the opening 10 minutes to set Ajax on their way, and completed his hat-trick early in the second half before adding another goal just after the hour mark at Lisbon’s Jose Alvalade Stadium.

Steven Berghuis claimed his first goal for his new club to add to the tally while Paulinho got the home team’s consolation.

The combination of winger Antony and Haller proved lethal as Ajax got off to a dream start in the second minute, with the Brazilian’s shot deflected on to the post and Haller dipping his head to get to the rebound.

Antony’s run down the right set up Haller’s second after nine minutes before Paulinho pulled one back in the 33rd minute with an angled shot that Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer let slip under his body.

Berghuis ensured a 3-1 halftime lead with a polished side-foot finish but Paulinho had the ball in the Ajax net straight after the break only to be ruled offside after a VAR check.

Haller, whom Ajax forgot to register for European club competition last season in an embarrassing administrative botch-up, then added two more in the 51st and 63rd minutes.

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WCQ: HALLER’S BRACE LIFTS IVORY COAST AS SOUTH AFRICA DOWNS GHANA

Ivory Coast striker Sebastien Haller netted both goals to secure a 2-1 home win over Cameroon while South Africa scored late to beat Ghana in two heavyweight clashes in African World Cup qualifying on Monday.

Both victors took an early advantage in their respective groups where only the winners advance to the final phase of qualifying for Qatar 2022.

Haller netted a 20th minute penalty and added a second nine minutes later as he broke free of the visiting defence to give the Ivorians the halftime lead in the Group D clash Abidjan.

But the home side, who were allowed a small crowd to support them after all other African World Cup qualifiers were ordered to be played behind closed doors, had to endure a nervy finish after missing chances when Cameroon pulled one back.

Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu’s 60th minute penalty handed Cameroon hope before Ivory Coast’s Jean Michael Seri hit the bar with a free kick. Substitute Christian Kouame might have finished Cameroon off in the last five minutes with just the goalkeeper to beat but fluffed the opportunity.

The Ivorians have four points from their first two matches.

South Africa had a first-half effort from Percy Tau controversially ruled offside and then missed two good chances before Bongokuhle Hlongwane’s 83rd minute winner against a Ghana team without six key English-based players.

The absentees did not travel to Johannesburg because South Africa is on the UK government’s COVID-19 ‘red list’ and they would have had to quarantine for 10 days on returning to their clubs.

Hlongwane got an inadvertent touch to a cross seven minutes from time to ensure four points for South Africa from their first two Group G matches.

For a second successive game in Group J, Democratic Republic of Congo’s Dieumerci Mbokani scored to give his side the lead only for hosts Benin to pull level before halftime in Cotonou in the 1-1 draw. Benin have four points with the Congolese on two.

Mali head the Group E standings on four points after the opening two rounds after they played out a 0-0 draw away to Uganda earlier on Monday.

Minnows Djibouti, who conceded eight to Algeria last week in Group A, let in another four as Niger beat them 4-2 in Rabat, Morocco. Both countries had to move their home qualifiers to neutral territory because of the poor state of their stadiums.

Djibouti led at halftime but two goals from Victorien Adebayor saw Niger come back to triumph in a section where Burkina Faso host Algeria on Tuesday in Marrakesh.

Kpah Sherman scored the only goal of the game in Douala as Liberia, coached by Englishman Peter Butler, won 1-0 away to the Central African Republic in Group C.

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WESTHAM’S HALLER NEARS €25M AJAX MOVE.

West Ham striker Sebastien Haller is close to sealing a move to the Eredivisie with Dutch giants Ajax.

Reports say the striker, 26, is the subject of ongoing negotiations between the two clubs.

The fee for his services is likely to reach around €25 million (£22.6m/$31m), with a meeting scheduled on Thursday to finalise the agreement between all the parties.

Haller is well-regarded in the Netherlands, having shined in the country during a previous spell in the Eredivisie.

From 2015 to 2017 the Ivory Coast international starred with Utrecht, having landed at the club after struggling to establish himself at Auxerre.

He netted a total of 51 goals in 98 games for Utrecht, form which earned him a transfer to the Bundesliga with Frankfurt.

And after two years in Germany, West Ham swooped in 2019 to make him part of their squad in a £45 million transfer.

Haller, however, has never Tully convinced in the Premier League, starting just 10 games in the current campaign.

A stunning overhead kick against Crystal Palace back in December was a rare moment of celebration for the forward, who expressed his hopes that the goal would help him build his confidence and remain in David Moyes’ plans.

“To be honest, I used to score a goal like that every season, so I’m used to it!” he explained to West Ham’s official website.

“I think it’s kind of special and I’m just happy because it was a beautiful goal and it helped us to get one point. I think we deserved three and we should have gone for the three, but I’m happy.

“I got two last season, against Watford and Bournemouth, so hopefully I can get another one on Monday at Chelsea – that’s the only thing I’d ask for, a goal like that! “It’s good for the eyes, for the confidence and for everything, but a goal is a goal so at the end it’s just one goal.”

Haller, who represented France throughout the youth divisions before opting to represent Ivory Coast at senior level, has played 54 games in all competitions for West Ham to date, scoring 14 goals.

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SHEFFIELD UTD 0-1 WESTHAM: HALLER STRIKE HELP HAMMERS EDGE THE BLADES AT HOME.

Sebastien Haller’s second-half strike earned West Ham United a second victory in succession as they beat Sheffield United 1-0 at Bramall Lane.

West Ham came close to scoring 28 minutes in through Vladimir Coufal before Tomas Soucek prodded wide from close range six minutes later.

At the other end Oli McBurnie forced Lukasz Fabianski into a fingertip save and David McGoldrick headed the resulting corner against a post.

The visitors eventually broke the deadlock 11 minutes into the second half, Haller firing into the top-right corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Declan Rice almost extended their lead but his header hit the crossbar, before McBurnie hit the frame of the goal with a powerful effort on the breakaway.

West Ham held on for the win that moves them up to eighth place on 14 points.

Sheffield United remain bottom with one point.