Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne saw Manchester City home against Sevilla in dramatic style in Wednesday’s Champions League action as Paris Saint-Germain held 10-time titleholders Real Madrid to a goalless draw.
De Bruyne’s injury time contribution earned City a 2-1 home win against Spain’s Europa League champions to improve their chances of escaping from Group D and into the last 16.
An open affair at the Etihad Stadium was heading for a draw after Adil Rami’s own goal canceled out Yevhen Konoplyanka’s 30th-minute opener for Sevilla, only for De Bruyne to gather a pass from Yaya Toure and slam home with his left foot seconds into stoppage time.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men moved up to second, one point behind Juventus, the Serie A giants held to a 0-0 stalemate by Borussia Moenchengladbach in Turin.
Manchester United, who host City in the Premier League on Sunday, faced a tricky assignment away to CSKA Moscow, their French starlet Anthony Martial firmly leaving his imprint on the encounter.
The 19-year-old was called for handball, which led to CSKA taking the lead on 15 minutes, Seydou Doumbia slamming in the rebound after United keeper David de Gea had parried Roman Eremenko’s penalty onto the post.
However, the French teenager atoned for his mistake with a fine header after the hour for his first goal in the competition and fifth since his high-profile move from Monaco in August.
Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg top the pool on six points after defeating PSV Eindhoven 2-0, with United and CSKA on four and the Dutch champions bringing up the rear on three.
Ronaldo, the Brazilian 2002 World Cup winner, was in the stands at Parc des Princes to watch the headline tie between PSG and Real.
However, despite both clubs deploying their all-time top scorers, the game ended goalless, Real legend Cristiano Ronaldo coming as close as anyone to breaking the deadlock in the French capital with a second-half volley that whistled wide.
Both sides remain unbeaten this season and are yet to concede after three games as they sit locked together on seven points at the top of Group A.
Malmo won 1-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, but Paris and Madrid are each four points clear of the Swedes and will have an opportunity to clinch qualification for the last 16 when they meet again in Spain in two weeks.
In Group C, Diego Simeone’s runners-up last year Atletico Madrid eased past Astana 4-0 to get their European campaign back on track after a shock defeat to Benfica last time out.
Galatasaray’s 2-1 win over Benfica in the other game in the group means Atletico draw level with Benfica at the top on six points, two points clear of the Turkish champions.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but