Wednesday’s matches: good Milan and Naples, Juventus men | UEFA Champions League
Erling Haaland scores a spectacular goal against his former team and gives Manchester City their second consecutive group win. Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi score for Paris at Maccabi Haifa, while Napoli win at Rangers and Milan triumph at San Siro against Dinamo. Disappointment for Chelsea in the first match with Graham Potter on the bench and especially for Juve, beaten in Turin by Benfica.
UEFA.com summarizes all of the matches on Wednesday on Matchday 2.
Group A
Rangers – Napoli 0-3
Matteo Politano, Giacomo Raspadori and Tanguy Ndombélé scored in the second half and sealed Napoli’s triumph, but Allan McGregor saved two penalties after James Sands was sent off in the 56th minute. Piotr Zieliński is neutralized twice by the penalty spot (the second after a rebound due to Politano’s invasion of the area), while Politano converts halfway through the second half. Late goals from Raspadori and Ndombélé closed a one-way match.
04/10: Liverpool – Rangers, Ajax – Naples
Group E
Milan 3-1 Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo arrives in Milan with the intention of putting the game piano that had allowed them to beat Chelsea on the first day: to defend and hit on the counterattack. The penalty converted by Olivier Giroud just before the break, however, is not part of the script, which is definitively destroyed when Alexis Saelemaekers doubled his head at the beginning of the second half. Dinamo were more determined and cut short with Mislav Oršić, but lost hope in the final when they conceded a goal from substitute Tommaso Pobega.
05/10: Salzburg – Dinamo Zagreb, Chelsea – Milan
Chelsea 1-1 Salzburg
Noah Oka’s short-range goal for a Graham Potter to debut on the Chelsea bench with a win. The Blues dominate in the first half but never call Philipp Köhn to intervene. Raheem Sterling gave the Londoners the lead at the start of the second half with a nice shot, but Salzburg grew and found equal with Okafor on an assist from Junior Adamu with 15 minutes remaining. Substitutes Hakim Ziyech and Armando Broja are close to scoring late, but the Austrian side hold on.
05/10: Salzburg – Dinamo Zagreb, Chelsea – Milan
Group F
Shakhtar – Celtic 1-1
Another magic from Mykhailo Mudryk allows the Shakhtar to recover in Warsaw. The good start of the Hoops pays off when Reo Hatate’s cross gets stuck thanks to a deflection from Artem Bondarenko. A few moments after Anatoliy Trubin’s rebound on Moritz Jenz, Georgiy Sudakov’s fine pass frees Mudryk, who overtakes Josip Juranović and scores on the net. Celtic prevailed in a tight second half but substitutes Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda failed to find the winning goal.
05/10: Leipzig – Celtic, Real Madrid – Shakhtar
Real Madrid – Leipzig 2-0
The Merengues win with two good goals a good match from Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio. The hosts seem vulnerable in the opening stages and are in danger of immediately scoring three times with Christopher Nkunku. Madrid lacks fluidity, which risks not scoring in a Champions League group match for the second time in 41 games. But here is that Valverde collects a pass from Vinícius Júnior and scores, while the substitute Asensio doubles in the recovery.
05/10: Leipzig – Celtic, Real Madrid – Shakhtar
Group G
Manchester City 2-1 Dortmund
Manchester City beat Dortmund by a comeback with two extraordinary goals in the final. After a hard first half, the visitors took the lead with Jude Bellingham’s header from Marco Reus’ cross. City struggled to overcome a stubborn Dortmund and equalized with a fine shot by John Stones from outside the box. Everything is ready for Erling Haaland’s spectacular victory goal against the former team on an equally impressive cross from João Cancelo.
05/10: Man City – Copenhagen, Seville – Dortmund
Copenhagen 0-0 Seville
Thanks to their respective defenses, Copenhagen and Sevilla earned their first points in Group G. The Spanish side dominated but failed to materialize, only coming close to scoring with a shot over the crossbar from Ivan Rakitić. Copenhagen grow gradually and have a chance to take the lead with Victor Kristiansen, but he too shoots high. The always Isco is a constant presence but fails to unhinge the lively rear guard.
05/10: Man City – Copenhagen, Seville – Dortmund
Group H
Juventus 1-2 Benfica
Benfica fell behind but then handed Juventus their second consecutive defeat in Group H. Arkadiusz Milik brought Juve forward after just four minutes with a header from Leandro Paredes’ free-kick. Benfica, however, managed to contain the dominance of the bianconeri and equalized before the interval, when João Mário converted a penalty awarded for a foul by Fabio Miretti on Rafa Silva. In the second half, the Portuguese side gained even more confidence and scored the decisive goal with David Neres.
05/10: Juventus – Maccabi Haifa, Benfica – Paris
Maccabi Haifa – Paris 1-3
Mbappé becomes Paris’s top ex aequo scorer in the Champions League and an embarrassing defeat to the champions avoids of France. The hosts took the lead in the 24th minute with a splendid volley shot by Tjaronn Chery, to the delight of a packed Sammy Ofer Stadium, but then Mbappé’s speed allowed Lionel Messi to equalize. The roles are reversed in the second half, when Mbappé scores his 30th Champions League goal with PSG and equals Edinson Cavani. Neymar scores 3-1 in the final.
05/10: Juventus – Maccabi Haifa, Benfica – Paris