Harry Kane was among the scorers on Wednesday as Bayern Munich beat Manchester United 4-3 in their heavyweight UEFA Champions League clash, while Jude Bellingham snatched a dramatic late winner for Real Madrid and Arsenal began their campaign with a big victory.
The meeting between German champions Bayern and a struggling United side, a repeat of the 1998-1999 final, was the biggest game of the opening round of matches in this season’s competition and it did not disappoint.
Leroy Sane gave Bayern the lead at the Allianz Arena with a shot that squirmed through the grasp of United goalkeeper Andre Onana, before Jamal Musiala set up Serge Gnabry to make it 2-0 just after the half-hour mark.
Photo: AFP
Rasmus Hojlund pulled one back early in the second half with his first United goal, but shortly after Christian Eriksen was penalized for a handball in the penalty area and Kane blasted in the resulting penalty.
Sane hit the post for the hosts before a crazy finish saw Casemiro reduce the deficit again, substitute Mathys Tel score Bayern’s fourth and Casemiro nod in another at the death to make it 4-3.
“A crazy finish,” Kane told British broadcaster TNT Sports after netting his fifth goal in six games for his new club. “We lost a bit of concentration there in the last five minutes. Thankfully, we were able to hold onto the lead. Overall it’s a really good start to the campaign against a tough side.”
Erik ten Hag’s United team have now suffered three consecutive defeats in all competitions and have lost four of their past five matches.
“After my mistake we lost control of the game. It’s a difficult situation for us, for me,” said Onana in reference to Bayern’s first goal.
Thomas Tuchel’s side are already in control of Group A, in which the other game saw Galatasaray come from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Copenhagen.
Goals from Mohamed Elyounoussi and Diogo Goncalves had the visitors in control in Istanbul, but they then had Elias Jelert sent off and Galatasaray struck twice in the final four minutes through Sacha Boey and Tete to earn a point.
In Madrid, Bellingham popped up from close range to score a 94th-minute winner as record 14-time European champions Real beat tournament debutants Union Berlin 1-0 in Group C.
The England international has started his Madrid career in stunning goalscoring form with six goals in six games for the club across all competitions.
“He has great qualities, it seems he’s got luck, too, because the goal is a rebound, but he was there, he arrives from deep and he’s more switched on than others, he’s got that quality and he’s taking advantage of it,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
Madrid’s next game is away to SSC Napoli, who won 2-1 against Braga in Portugal with Sikou Niakate’s late own-goal giving the Italian team victory.
Giovanni di Lorenzo had put Napoli ahead, but Bruma looked to have earned Braga a draw when he struck with six minutes left.
Arsenal cruised to a 4-0 win over PSV Eindhoven in their first Champions League game since the 2016-2017 season.
Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all scored first-half goals in the rain in London before Martin Odegaard wrapped up the win after halftime.
“It was a beautiful night after such a long time. It was great to see the atmosphere, the Champions League music. It was emotional before the game,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.
Their Group B rivals Sevilla and RC Lens drew 1-1 in Spain, with Angelo Fulgini’s free-kick earning the French side a draw after Lucas Ocampos headed the hosts in front.
Last season’s beaten finalists Inter needed an 87th-minute Lautaro Martinez equalizer as they came from behind to draw 1-1 at Real Sociedad in Group D.
Brais Mendez had given the hosts an early lead in San Sebastian.
In the same group, RB Salzburg missed one penalty, but scored another in a 2-0 win at SL Benfica.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS