A Victor Osimhen penalty on Tuesday gave Galatasaray victory over Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League, while Chelsea edged out Jose Mourinho’s SL Benfica and Kylian Mbappe hit a hat-trick for Real Madrid in Kazakhstan.
Elsewhere in the second round of matches in the league phase of Europe’s elite club competition, Tottenham Hotspur battled back to draw with Bodo/Glimt as Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Olympique de Marseille and Inter recorded big wins.
In Istanbul, Turkey, Osimhen beat Alisson Becker from the spot in the 16th minute, giving Galatasaray a 1-0 win and condemning Liverpool to a second straight loss after their defeat by Crystal Palace in the English Premier League.
Photo: AFP
The English champions thought they had a chance to equalize late on when Ibrahima Konate went down and a penalty was given, but the referee overturned his decision on review.
Liverpool, who finished first in the league phase last season, also saw Alisson go off injured in the second half before the introductions off the bench of Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak failed to have the desired impact.
“The margins were very small last season, but then we were a lot of times on the right side of the score,” Liverpool coach Arne Slot said. “Today again the margins were really small, but for the second time in a row on the wrong side.”
Photo: AP
Liverpool hope to bounce back on Saturday away to Chelsea, who themselves got back to winning ways with a 1-0 success against Benfica as the Portuguese giants’ new coach Mourinho came back to Stamford Bridge.
Richard Rios turned an Alejandro Garnacho cross into his own net for the only goal of the game in the 18th minute, with Benfica unable to recover as Mourinho returned to face the club he coached over two separate spells.
Chelsea had substitute Joao Pedro sent off in stoppage-time, but Enzo Maresca’s side were delighted to get the win after losing their opening European game of the campaign at Bayern.
“A defeat is always a defeat, but this one can be a start for us. It was a stable performance,” Mourinho said of his team.
Spurs escaped Norway with a point in a 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt in a game played north of the Arctic Circle.
Kasper Hogh missed a penalty for the hosts before a brilliant second-half brace from Jens Petter Hauge had them two goals in front.
However, Micky van de Ven pulled one back on 68 minutes for last season’s UEFA Europa League winners, and Spurs then got a lucky 89th-minute equalizer when a Nikita Haikin save smashed into the stomach of Jostein Gundersen from close range and trickled over the line.
Record 15-time European champions Real made the long trip east to face Kairat Almaty and ran out 5-0 winners.
Mbappe opened the scoring from a first-half penalty and made it 2-0 soon after the break before firing in from the edge of the area to complete his hat-trick on 73 minutes, making it 60 career Champions League goals.
The Frenchman has now scored 13 goals in nine games in all competitions this season for Real, who also saw Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Diaz net toward the end.
Bayern also scored five, with Harry Kane netting twice in the first half in a 5-1 win away to Pafos in Cyprus. The England star now has 17 goals in nine games in all competitions this season for his club.
Raphael Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson and Michael Olise also found the net for Bayern, while Mislav Orsic scored for the hosts.
“I’m going into games with confidence, knowing I’ll get my chances. Scored a couple more goals today, I’m happy with that,” Kane said.
Atletico followed a 5-2 win over Real in the Madrid derby last weekend by thumping Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1.
Giacomo Raspadori, Robin Le Normand, Antoine Griezmann and Giuliano Simeone netted for Atletico before Julian Alvarez scored a late penalty. Griezmann’s goal was his 200th for the club. Jonathan Burkardt pulled one back for Eintracht.
Igor Paixao netted twice in the opening 12 minutes as Marseille hammered Ajax 4-0. Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were also on target.
Lautaro Martinez got a brace either side of a Denzel Dumfries goal as last season’s runners-up Inter eased to a 3-0 win over Slavia Prague at San Siro.
Mario Pasalic scored a late winner as Atalanta BC beat Club Brugge 2-1, after a Lazar Samardzic penalty had canceled out a Christos Tzolis opener for the Belgians.
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