UCL round-up: Man Utd, Juventus win

Sport360 staff 01:00 01/10/2015
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Juan Mata was Manchester United's star performer against Wolfsburg.

    Juan Mata was the star of the show as Manchester United got off the mark in the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg.

    – Asia Angle: Ali Al Habsi, the Asian goalkeeping pioneer
    – ACL: Guangzhou gain advantage over Gamba in semi

    Daniel Caligiuri took advantage of some slack defending from the hosts to put Wolfsburg ahead in the fourth minute.

    Smalling, Morgan Schneiderlin and Daley Blind failed to dispossess Caligiuri in the right corner. He played the ball inside to Max Kruse, who returned the ball to the midfielder in the box and he jabbed the ball past David de Gea.

    Finally the nerves eased inside Old Trafford when Mata cut in from the right and swung in a cross which was impeded by Caligiuri's outstretched left arm. Referee Viktor Kassai pointed to the spot and Mata slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.

    United then put themselves in charge of the game in the 53rd minute. Smalling rolled the ball past Wolfsburg goalkeeper Benaglio, but Mata should take the lion's share of the credit for the goal. The Spaniard flicked a wayward pass over the Wolfsburg back four and into Smalling's path. The defender slid in and guided the ball past Benaglio with his right foot.

    After a wobbly start, United are now second in their group, level on three points with Wolfsburg, PSV and CSKA Moscow.

    Sergio Aguero struck a last-gasp penalty winner as Manchester City came from behind to ignite their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win at Borussia Monchengladbach.

    It had looked like being a familiar story of frustration and Joe Hart brilliance in Germany for City as Lars Stindl finally beat the visitors' outstanding goalkeeper to give the hosts a 54th-minute lead at a raucous Borussia Park.

    But Nicolas Otamendi rammed home an equaliser 11 minutes later and City were rewarded for a bright finish as the otherwise laboured Aguero scored from the spot after being fouled.

    City had conceded a penalty themselves in the first half but Hart saved from Raffael, as he did on a number of other occasions from the Brazilian and his team-mates in open play.

    But the visitors also had a number of opportunities in a compelling Group D encounter played in a lively atmosphere befitting Monchengladbach's first home match in the competition for 37 years.

    Benfica came from a goal behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon and go top of Group C.

    It was a clinical display of counter-attacking football from the Portuguese champions, who had gone behind after 23 minutes courtesy of an Angel Correa goal for Atletico.

    However goals from Nico Gaitan and Goncalo Guedes were enough to seal a victory that sees Benfica maintain their 100% start and leapfrog their Spanish counterparts at the top of the group.

    Cristiano Ronaldo's double took him past 500 career goals and handed Real Madrid a narrow 2-0 Champions League victory over 10-man Malmo.

    The Portugal international struck after 29 minutes and then at the death to claim victory in Sweden and maintain his side's perfect start to their Group A campaign.

    In the process, Ronaldo, who started the night with 499 goals to his name, equalled Raul's club record of 323 and will now hope to surpass that mark in Sunday's Madrid derby.

    Swedish champions Malmo, who had defender Yoshimar Yotun sent off for a second bookable offence late on, remained in the game until the final minute, but ultimately emerged empty-handed.

    Juventus may be struggling in Serie A but it is a different story in the Champions League with the Italian giants clinching the second win in as many games on Wednesday with a 2-0  triumph over Sevilla.

    Spanish forward Alvaro Morata put the Italians ahead in the 41st minute and his replacement Simone Zaza sealed the victory with a second goal three minutes from time.

    Zlatan Ibrahimovic was frustrated in his attempts to overhaul Paris St Germain's all-time goalscoring record as a late strike was officially recorded as an own goal.

    Ibrahimovic thought he had scored his 108th goal for PSG, equalled Pauleta's record and sealed a 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in one fell toe poke, but his shot deflected off Darijo Srna and UEFA awarded the goal to Shakhtar's captain.

    Recommended