It was the Erling Haaland show in the Champions League even on a night when Paris Saint-Germain superstars Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, known as ‘MNM’, all scored in a comeback win. Manchester City also trailed, deep into the game, at home on Wednesday against Haaland’s former club Borussia Dortmund in a fascinating quick reunion for the prolific Norway prodigy.
The stage was set for Haaland to seal a 2-1 win after teammate John Stones leveled the game scoring with a stunning shot in the 80th minute. Haaland rose to his challenge in the 84th when he met a high cross with a twisting leap and acrobatic volley to send goalward a ball that seemed to have passed him.
It was the 26th goal in just 21 Champions League games for Haaland, who has scored for City in six straight games and has a rate of better than a goal per game this season. City’s late win restored some order on an evening when more upset results beckoned in a competition that has been more unpredictable this season.
Midway through the second half across Europe, City and Juventus were losing, Real Madrid were being held goalless and PSG were level in Israel after trailing. Messi had tied the game for PSG before half-time at Maccabi Haifa but it took until the 69th for Mbappe to seize the lead and Neymar sealed a 3-1 victory in the 88th.
Argentine Messi has now found the back of the net against a record 39 different teams in the tournament. Madrid had to wait until the 80th to break through in a 2-0 w i n against Leipzig. Federico Valverde’s opening goal was followed by Marco Asensio’s sweeping shot in stoppage time.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti reached a European milestone as he became the second manager after Alex Ferguson to reach 100 Champions League wins. Juventus, however, did not find the late goals it needed against Benfica and fell to a second straight 2-1 loss, after defeat in Paris last week.
Wasting a fourth-minute lead earned by Arkadiusz Milik, Juventus were beaten by a Joao Mario penalty for Benfica before half-time and a David Neres strike in the 55th. Neres’ former club Shakhtar Donetsk — who the Brazilian winger left without playing a game after signing just weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine — continued their unbeaten run this season drawing 1-1 with Celtic who dominated much of the play.
Shakhtar might have a star playmaker in Mykhaylo Mudryk, who scored with a powerful left-footed shot for the second straight game. Shakhtar hosted the game at Legia Warsaw’s stadium in neighbouring Poland. A tough night for Scottish clubs saw Rangers lose 3-0 at home to Napoli despite 40-year-old goalkeeper Allan McGregor saving two penalty kicks early in the second half.
Napoli were awarded three spot-kicks, though the second was a re-take after an encroachment offence when Matteo Politano followed up McGregor’s first save to score from the rebound. On his second attempt, Piotr Zielinski fired his penalty in the same place and McGregor saved again.
When Napoli got another penalty for handball 10 minutes later, Politano stepped up and scored though McGregor got a hand to the ball on its way into the net. Napoli added late goals from substitutes Giacomo Raspadori and Tanguy Ndombele.
Chelsea manager Graham Potter’s first game in charge of the 2021 European champions was a 1-1 draw at home to a Salzburg team that is exceeding expectations. Chelsea led on Raheem Sterling’s curling shot in the 48th and was pegged back by Noah Okafor’s goal in the 75th. Swiss international Okafor also scored in a draw last week with AC Milan.
Ronaldo, Sancho hit bullseye
Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo gave timely reminders of their value with both on target as Manchester United got their Europa League campaign back on track with a 2-0 victory at Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday.
Dutch club Feyenoord also registered their first points in an emphatic fashion, crushing Sturm Graz 6-0 in Group F where Lazio were hammered 5-1 away to Danish side Midtjylland.
Olympiakos’s hopes of progressing from Group G already look slim, however, as they went down 3-0 at Bundesliga side Freiburg.
United’s Premier League resurgence was interrupted by a lacklustre home defeat against Real Sociedad last week but they responded with a businesslike win in Chisinau where the match was played because of security concerns.
Sancho slotted in United’s opener in the 17th minute after a neat turn in the penalty area. (Reuters)
