UEFA Champions League: Manchester City survive Nkunku hat-trick to overwhelm RB Leipzig 6-3; Liverpool defeat AC Milan in 5-goal thriller; Atletico Madrid 0-0 FC Porto; Real Madrid 1-0 Inter Milan

0

Manchester City crushed RB Leipzig 6-3 in a thrilling UEFA Champions League Group A game on Wednesday as Christopher Nkunku scored a hat-trick for the German side.

It was a hugely entertaining match at the Etihad Stadium and Manchester City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, will be happy with the three points for the 2020/2021 season’s runners-up.

He will, however, be concerned about the spaces his team left for the German side to exploit on the break.

Nkunku became only the fourth player to score a UEFA Champions League treble and end up on the losing side.

He deserved his player of the match award though, as RB Leipzig showed real spirit to keep fighting back against Manchester City’s impressive firepower.

Defender Nathan Ake put Manchester City ahead in the 16th minute with a header from a Jack Grealish corner-kick and the hosts doubled the lead 12 minutes later.

This was when Kevin De Bruyne produced wonderful skill to leave three defenders for dead before his deep cross was headed into his own net by RB Leipzig defender Nordi Mukiele.

RB Leipzig got back in the game with a 42nd-minute header from Nkunku, only for Manchester City to restore their two-goal advantage on the stroke of half-time.

Lukas Klostermann was ruled to have handled after the referee went to the pitchside monitor to check the incident and Riyad Mahrez blasted home the spot-kick.

Leipzig were not deterred, though, and Nkunku reduced the deficit again in the 51st minute by heading in a cross from the excellent Spanish midfielder Dani Olmo.

Grealish then delivered a wonderful solo goal to mark his first European club appearance.

He collected the ball on the left flank and jinked inside before giving Peter Gulacsi no chance with a curling shot into the far corner.

That was surely that, the Manchester City fans could be forgiven for thinking.

But, once again, French forward Nkunku kept the game alive, completing his hat-trick with a crisp drive after being set up by Yussuf Poulsen.

Incredibly, Manchester City responded immediately with an unstoppable long-range drive from Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo.

Any hopes the visitors had of a comeback ended when they went down to 10 men, after former Manchester City full-back Angelino was sent off in the 79th minute.

Substitute Gabriel Jesus added the sixth from close range five minutes from time and the home crowd were delighted with the display of Grealish, in front of his England manager Gareth Southgate.

“I loved it,” Grealish said of his first taste of the competition.

“I’ve been waiting a while. The past few weeks, I couldn’t wait for this game. It’s a great night.

“It was one of those games. It had absolutely everything. In the end we’re delighted to get the win against a good team full of energy and young players,” he said.

Manchester City lead the group on three points after Paris St-Germain (PSG) were held to a 1-1 draw at Club Brugge in their opening game.

Meanwhile, Liverpool captain, Jordan Henderson, struck a rare UEFA Champions League goal to earn his side a 3-2 victory over AC Milan at a rocking Anfield on Wednesday.

In the rip-roaring Group B match, Henderson rifled home in the 69th minute to settle an absorbing contest.

It was indeed a grand contest, between the two European heavyweights whose only two previous meetings had been in finals.

With Anfield welcoming back fans for a UEFA Champions League night for the first time in 18 months, Liverpool had threatened to run riot.

Fikayo Tomori’s own goal handed them an early lead in a barn-storming start.

Remarkably, after weathering the storm which included a Mohamed Salah penalty kick miss, AC Milan struck twice in quick succession at the end of the first half.

The duo of Ante Rebic and Brahim Diaz scored to silence the home crowd within three minutes.

AC Milan then had a goal disallowed shortly after the break before Salah made amends for his penalty kick miss by equalising from close range in the 49th minute.

The outcome was still in doubt until Henderson capped a memorable Anfield night with a thumping effort —- only his second in the competition and first for seven years.

“For half an hour we blew them away,” Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson said.

“Then we got sloppy and stopped doing the things we were doing really well. We let them back into the game.

”We had to walk in at half-time thinking ‘how have we let this happen?’”

AC Milan’s return to Europe’s top club competition for the first time in seven years began in torrid fashion as the seven-time champions were initially overwhelmed.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic unavailable and several players making their UEFA Champions League debut, AC Milan looked ill-equipped to compete and fell behind in the ninth minute.

This was when Trent Alexander-Arnold got in on the right side of the area and his cross struck former Chelsea player Tomori and beat AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Before AC Milan could clear their heads they conceded a penalty kick, when Ismael Bennacer blocked Robertson’s shot with his arm.

But Maignan dived to his right to keep out Salah’s penalty kick.

It was only the second time in 19 attempts that Salah had failed to convert a penalty kick and it proved a turning point.

Salah fired over and Joel Matip headed straight at Maignan as the chances kept coming.

But Liverpool were rocked on their heels as AC Milan turned the game on its head.

Liverpool manager Klopp said later that his team had got a bit “carried away”.

For the first time Liverpool’s high press relented, and AC Milan worked the ball neatly forward before Franck Kessie’s pass played in Rebic to sweep a low shot past Alisson.

Klopp wore a wry smile after that, but one minute and 48 seconds later he looked as stunned as everyone else.

AC Milan attacked down the left again with Kessie and Rebic combining to set up Alexis Saelemaekers.

His shot was blocked on the line by Robertson, only for Diaz to pounce and convert.

It could have got even worse for Liverpool a minute after the restart when Saelemaekers scored from close range following a corner-kick but an offside flag spared Liverpool.

The frantic pace continued and Liverpool were level in the 48th minute.

This was after Divock Origi, given his first action of the season, scooped a ball over AC Milan’s defence for Salah to dink a bouncing ball past Maignan.

It was Salah’s 14th UEFA Champions League goal at Anfield, equalling former captain Steven Gerrard’s record.

AC Milan did well to soak up Liverpool pressure but they finally cracked when a corner-kick was cleared to the edge of the area and Henderson smashed the ball home. 
Also, Atletico Madrid drew 0-0 at home to FC Porto in a cagey opening UEFA Champions League Group B game on Wednesday.

This was after the Spaniards were spared defeat when a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review overturned a late goal from visiting striker Mehdi Taremi.

Taremi bundled the ball into the net in the 80th minute from the floor after a mix-up between Atletico Madrid defender Renan Lodi and goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

But the goal was ruled out as the Iranian forward had handled the ball as he slid to the ground.

FC Porto defender Chancel Mbemba was shown a straight red card deep in injury time for hauling down Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann.

Luis Suarez fizzed the resulting free-kick inches over the bar.

The Uruguayan had also gone close to breaking the deadlock late in the first half with a free-kick which cleared the wall but went narrowly above the bar.

“FC Porto were very good in the game. We lacked a bit of creativity and we had few chances. When you play against a team who wants to play on the counter, its always difficult,” said Oblak.

“Their (disallowed) goal came from a big error from us. Luckily we have the VAR and they gave the handball, but we have to stay focused to avoid scares like that.”

FC Porto coach Sergio Conceicao and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone shared a dressing room as players for Lazio and the two men have similar footballing visions.

This thus made for a tight affair with neither side affording the other much space.

Atletico Madrid suffered a first-half setback when Thomas Lemar was taken off with a muscle injury.

He had scored in the ninth minute of added time for the winning goal in the 2-1 victory at Espanyol on Saturday.

The visitors nearly took the lead early in the first half with a powerful cross from midfielder Otavio which went beyond Oblak’s grasp and came off the post.

Simeone then made a triple change.

He brought on Griezmann, who had been subbed off in a disappointing return to the team at Espanyol after re-joining the club on loan from FC Barcelona.

But it was another substitute in Angel Correa who almost gave the hosts the lead, the Argentine forward driving a shot across goal which FC Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa beat away.

FC Porto showed a little more ambition in the latter stages and were aggrieved when Taremi’s goal was ruled out as the ball brushed against his arm just before it trickled across the line.

They had another opportunity to snatch the lead when a cross found Mbemba from close range but the defender failed to make proper contact with the ball.

In another thriller, Real Madrid substitute, Rodrygo, struck an 89th-minute winner to snatch a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League group stage on Wednesday.

Real Madrid punished the wasteful Italians for missing a string of chances, with the Brazilian meeting a pass from fellow replacement Eduardo Camavinga to volley home in the dying minutes.

It allowed Carlo Ancelotti’s side to triumph against their major rivals for top spot in Group D.

It was a painful conclusion to a game the Italian side had dominated for large stretches.

But the hosts could not find a way past on-form goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who produced several crucial saves.

Real Madrid are second in the group behind Moldovans Sheriff Tiraspol, who stunned Shakhtar Donetsk with a 2-0 win on their tournament debut.

The Moldovans travel to Madrid next, while Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan will look to get their first points on the board when they meet in Ukraine.

Inter Milan and Real Madrid were familiar with each other after sharing a group last season, when the Spanish side twice triumphed.

But both teams were starting this European campaign under new coaches, Real Madrid with Ancelotti and Inter Milan with Simone Inzaghi.

The Italian champions started on the front foot and soon threatened when Edin Dzeko had a shot saved by the legs of Courtois, an early sign of what would prove to be a theme of the night.

Real Madrid struggled to cope with the aggression of the hosts.

They were second best before the break, thanking Courtois again for diving to stop a Lautaro Martinez header and beating away another Dzeko effort.

The Spaniards had soaked up 14 shots by half-time and they kept coming after the break.

That was when Courtois produced the save of the night by clawing a close-range Dzeko header off the line.

Real Madrid grew into the game as Dani Carvajal stung Samir Handanovic’s palms with a shot.

Vinicius was twice blocked by Inter Milan Skriniar in dangerous positions, before Rodrygo’s late strike gave them the three points.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.