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.
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
RSS