Tuesday Matches
Liverpool steals it late to win Ajax
The Reds had to dig out a late winner in order to clinch their first UCL three points for this season on Tuesday night. They had lost their last match 4-1 to Napoli, their first group stage match.
With a hard-fought-for 2-1 victory over visiting Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam, Liverpool made a rebound into winning ways. The English top-flight team took the lead in the 17th minute when their prolific Egyptian winger Mohammed Salah scored from Diogo Jota’s pass.
Ten minutes after Salah’s goal, Ajax showed quality and drew level through Muhammed Qudus who was played in by Steven Berghuis’ pass.
A resilient Ajax defence was later broken down in the 89th minute when Liverpool’s defender Joel Matip rose to Kostantinos’ cross to seal a first victory for the Reds in this UCL season.
Bayern Munich soil Lewandoski’s return
The German champions welcomed Barcelona to the Allianz Arena on Tuesday with a 2-0 victory. The visiting team lost despite featuring the home team’s former talisman Lewandoski. The Polish striker moved to Barcelona during the summer transfer window.
In a mouthwatering encounter that saw both sides creating scoring chances in the first half that ended nil-nil.
The Bavarians however came out of the dressing stronger and took the lead in the 50th minute when Lucas Hernandez nodded home Joshua Kimmich’s cross.
Four minutes later the Bavarians extended their lead through Leroy Sane’s right-footed strike to give Bayern a well-deserved extended lead.
Barcelona heads back to Spain with a defeat and expects to take their pound of flesh when they host Bayern Munich at the Nou camp in the coming weeks.
Bayer Leverkusen downs visiting Atletico Madrid 2-0
Diego Simeone and his men took a trip to Germany on Tuesday and were welcomed by Bayer Leverkusen who effectively used their home advantage to secure a 2-0 win to clinch a vital three home points.
Bayern were looking to secure their first point from this 2022/23 UCL group stage after they lost their first match against Club Brugge.
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Atletico’s defence held well until it could not go any further, in the 84th minute, Robert Andrich broke the deadlock with a fine drive after he was set free by Jeremie Frimpong’s pass.
Jeremie Frimpong created another goal three minutes later when his beautiful cross was met by Moussa Diaby’s left foot who made no mistake to double Bayer’s lead and condemned Diego and his men to their first group stage defeat.
FC Porto thrashed at home by swarming Club Brugge.
Club Brugge took a trip to Portugal on Tuesday to dismantle Porto at home with a 4-0 demolition to go on top of Group B with six points after they defeated Bayer Leverkusen in their first group stage match.
FC Porto who are yet to register a win or point in the group were expecting to change that but were met by the ravaging Belgian outfit.
Club Brugge took the lead in the 15th minute through Ferran Jutgla’s penalty spot kick to give his team a first-half lead.
The second half resumed in the same fashion, Club Brugge doubled their lead two minutes into the second-half kick-off, and Ferran Jutgla this time assisted Kamal Sowah’s goal.
Five minutes later Andrea Olsen added the third goal after the winger pounced on Bjorn Meijer’s pass.
Antonio Nusa came from the bench and added the fourth goal to round up the scoring for the night.
Viktoria Plzen downed 0-2 at home by Inter Milan
With both teams seeking to earn their first points after losing their first matches, Inter Milan took a trip to the Czech Republic to take on Viktoria Plzen.
Inter took the lead in the 20th minute when Edin Dzeko sent a right-footed shot in the net after Bosnian was sent free from a Joaquin Correa pass.
Things went sour for the home side when Pavel Bucha was sent off in the 61st minute for a reckless tackle on Alessandro Bastoni.
Inter capitalized on Plzen’s misfortune and doubled their lead in the 70th minute when Denzel Dumfries scored from Edin Dzeko’s pass to seal the victory for the Italian outfit.
Sporting Lisbon halts Tottenham in Portugal
Tottenham, who were hoping to maintain their unbeaten record in all competitions, fell to Sporting Lisbon when the Portuguese outfit hosted the London club on Tuesday.
Two late goals from second-half substitutes Paulinho in the 91st minute while Arthur scored in the 93rd minute to hand Tottenham their first defeat of the season.
Marseille humbled 0-1 at home by Eintracht Frankfurt
Marseille played host to German side Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday night and lost by a single goal which was scored by Jesper Lindstrom in the 43rd minute of the first half.
The visiting team were more organized and made use of it and also got a goal disallowed by the VAR in the 80th minute.
The win leaves Marseille as the only team without a point in Group D.
Wednesday Matches
Chelsea held by Salzburg at the bridge
It was not the expected beginning for Chelsea faithful under the new coach Graham Potter as Chelsea hosted Salzburg on Wednesday night in a match that ended in a one-one draw.
Potter left Brighton on Thursday to become Chelsea’s new head coach after the departure of German tactician Tomas Tuchel who was sacked last Wednesday after his team lost their opening match in an away loss to Dinamo Zagreb last Tuesday.
Chelsea took the lead in the 48th minute through Raheem Sterling after the former Manchester City winger picked up a pass from Mason Mount and buried the ball in the bottom corner.
Salzburg dug deep and found a leveller in the 75th minute when Noah Okafor scored from Chukwubuike Adamu’s pass, the two Nigerians combined well to give their team a well-deserved point.
Chelsea mounted pressure on the visiting team but Salzburg held out to take a point home leaving the Blues in search of their first group stage win.
Haaland turns up for Manchester City against his former club Dortmund
Erling Haaland scored the deciding goal to deprive his former team a vital point on Wednesday night when Manchester City welcomed German side Borussia Dortmund to the Etihad stadium.
In an all-entertaining game that was not goal shy, Dortmund snatched a lead in the 56th minute through Jude Bellingham after the Englishman was set free with a pass from his captain Marco Reus.
Manchester City broke Dortmund’s defence in the 80th minute through John Stones, the English defender sent a right-footed shot from outside the box into the net after he picked up a pass from Kevin De Bruyne.
City continued to seek a winner and it came four minutes later when Erling Haaland latched onto Joan Cancelo’s cross.
Haaland who left Dortmund in the summer to join Manchester City achieved a milestone of 102 professional goals and was also the youngest player to for and against the same side in the history of the Champions League at the age of 22 years and 55 days to surpass Alvaro Morata’s Real Madrid feat.
Paris Saint Germain breezes past Maccabi Haifa
PSG took a trip to Israel on Wednesday and were hosted by Maccabi Haifa for the day two UCL group stage game.
PSG who are still on the hunt for Champions League glory brushed the Israel club aside on their own turf.
Maccabi took an early lead in the 24th minute after Marco Verratti lost possession and Tjaronn Chery scored from Dolev Haziza’s cross to put their French visitors under pressure.
PSG drew level in the 37th minute when Lionel Messi pounced on a loose ball after a defensive blunder from Maccabi’s defence.
Lionel Messi became a creator in the 69th minute when the Argentine set up a good pass for Kylian Mbappe to smash the ball in with his right foot.
Neymar had the final say for the night in the 88th when Marco Veratti created a scoring chance for the Brazilian to add the third goal for his team.
The loss leaves Maccabi at the bottom of the group table with no point while PSG sits on top of Group H with six points.
Benfica sinks Juventus in Turin
Juventus hosted Benfica at Turin on Wednesday night in a match they lost 1-2 in front of their home fans who were agitating for their first UCL group stage win after the Old Ladies lost their opening match against PSG.
Juventus fans thought they were on the path to secure their win when Arkadiusz Milik gave Juve an early lead in the fourth minute when the towering striker met Leandro Daniel Paredes cross.
Benfica drew level in the 43rd minute when the referee awarded them a penalty for Fabio Miretti’s tackle on Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos.
Joao Mario converted the penalty by sending Mattia Perrin the wrong way, play was stopped in the 44th minute players of both teams went at each other and the referee had to dish out yellow cards to Benfica’s Joao Mario and Mattia Perrin for violent misconduct.
Benfica took the lead in the 55th minute through David Neres who pounced on a spilled Mattia Perin save after the Juve goalkeeper parried away Rafa Silvia’s shot.
The Portuguese outfit held onto their lead and earned a well deserved win and made it two wins from two games.
Real Madrid continues title defence in style with a win over stubborn RB Leipzig
The defending champions welcomed German club, RB Leipzig, to the Bernabeu on Wednesday night and tamed the resilient German side with a comfortable 2-0 win.
Real Madrid who are without their formidable talisman Karim Benzema who is sidelined by injury had no problems in finding the back of the net but found it late because Leipzig’s defence held out until the 80th minute when Federico Valverde scored with a left foot drive after the Uruguay international received a pass from Vinicius Junior.
Real Madrid kept up on the mounting pressure and added their second in the 91st minute through a wonderful drive from Marco Asensio.
Madrid sits on top of Group F with six points while RB Leipzig is yet to register a win nor earn a point which leaves them at the bottom of the table.
AC Milan tames Dinamo Zagreb in Milan
The Italian reigning champions welcomed Dinamo Zagreb to Milan on Wednesday night and made sure they left without a point.
Milan took the lead from an Olivier Giroud 45th-minute penalty.
Milan resumed the second half in the same fashion they ended the first half and added a second goal two minutes into the second half through Alexis Saelemaekers. The latter headed home a Rafael Leao cross.
Dinamo Zagreb pulled one back in the 56th minute through Mislav Orsic scored after picking up a pass from Bruno Petkovic.
Milan restored their two-goal lead in the 77th minute through Tommaso Pobega’s left-footed strike.
AC Milan sits on top of Group E with four points while Dinamo Zagreb sits second with three points.
Napoli wins in Scotland
Napoli took a trip to Scotland where they were hosted by Rangers on Wednesday night in a match the visiting ran away with as deserving winners.
Things began to go sour for Rangers in the 55th minute when James Stands was sent off for a second bookable offence which they later paid for in the 68th minute after Matteo Politano converted a penalty to give Napoli the lead.
Giacomo Raspadori added the second in the 85th minute after picking up a pass from Mathias Olivera.
The third goal came in the 91st minute from Tanguy Ndombele who was assisted by Andre-Frank Zambo.
Napoli sits comfortably on top of Group A with six points while Rangers are down the table with no point.
