A rampant Newcastle United put in a stellar showing to secure a superb 4-1 victory over French champions Paris St Germain in their first Champions League home match in 20 years on Wednesday.
In a red-hot atmosphere in the north east, PSG had no answer to the relentless hosts who raced into a 17th-minute lead through Miguel Almiron, before Dan Burn powered home a header six minutes before the break to double Newcastle’s advantage.
The crowd ensured there was no let-up after the break, with Sean Longstaff drilling a third under the arm of Gianluigi Donnarumma in the PSG goal five minutes into the second half to send the Newcastle fans into dreamland.
A goal out of nowhere from Lucas Hernandez got the visitors back in it, before a stoppage-time fourth from defender Fabian Schar capped a stunning victory that moved Newcastle top of Group F on four points, one clear of PSG in second.
PSG suffered their heaviest group-stage defeat in the Champions League since losing 3-0 against Chelsea in September 2004, and conceded four in a single group game in the competition for the first time since a 3-4 defeat to Deportivo La Coruna in 2001.
“You can’t knock it. It’s a very special moment for Newcastle,” coach Eddie Howe said.
In the group’s other contest on Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan played out a 0-0 draw in Germany, Milan’s second stalemate in their opening two Champions League matches this season.
Two late goals
Holders Manchester City struck twice in the final minutes through Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku to beat hosts RB Leipzig 3-1 and rebound from successive domestic defeats to take control of Group G with maximum points.
Alvarez curled his shot from the edge of the box into the top corner in the 84th minute and Doku slotted in as City, who had lost to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup before their league loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, moved up to six points from two games in top spot.
City enjoyed a strong start and had a double chance in the 14th minute with Rico Lewis’s fine turn and shot blocked and Phil Foden’s rebound sailing just wide of the post with Bernardo Silva failing to connect. Foden did better when he opened the scoring with a first-time finish in the 25th minute to beat keeper Janis Blaswich with a bouncing shot.
Leipzig struck three minutes after the restart with their first chance of the game as Lois Openda latched on to well-timed Yussuf Poulsen pass and held off a challenge by Manuel Akanji to slot in off the post.
The visitors, however, refused to settle for a point, moving further up the pitch in search of a winner, and Foden hit the crossbar in the 63rd with curling free kick.
With Haaland, who had scored five goals in last year’s 7-0 demolition of Leipzig, largely shut out, it was Alvarez who decided the game when he curled a superb shot past Blaswich and into the top corner.
Torres scores
Substitute Ferran Torres scored to give Barcelona a hard-fought 1-0 win at Porto in their Group H clash, with the Spanish side finishing with 10 men after Gavi got a second yellow card for a foul in added time.
Porto were wasteful but arguably the better side throughout as Mehdi Taremi, Stephen Eustaquio and Pepe missed chances in the first half.
Torres, who came off the bench in the 34th minute to replace the injured Robert Lewandowski, intercepted a pass backwards by Porto midfielder Romario Baro and scored with a tidy finish during first-half injury time.
Porto got back on top in the second half and Barca defender Jules Kounde denied them an equaliser in the 53rd minute. When Porto forward Pepe looked destined to score from point-black range after a quick counter attack, the skillful French centre back made a jaw dropping last-second challenge to clear the ball round the post with the tip of his boot.
“We had a hard time,” Barca manager Xavi Hernandez told Movistar Plus.
