New Telegraph

UEFA League: Liverpool beat Atletico, Messi double for PSG  

…as Teenager Palmer on target as superb Man City hammer Club Bruges

 

 

Mohamed Salah continued his superb goalscoring form as Liverpool made it three wins out of three in the group stage of the Champions League as they beat Spanish champions Atletico Madrid in a game of constant drama.

In a frantic, fantastic match in the Spanish capital between sides that were dazzling in attack but vulnerable at the back, the Reds saw an early two-goal lead wiped out by Antoine Griezmann’s double, reports the BBC.

The France forward was then shown a straight red card early in the second half, allowing the visitors to reassert their authority and snatch a big win through Salah’s well-taken penalty, awarded for a clumsy foul on Diogo Jota by Mario Hermoso.

Jota almost turned villain, though, as his challenge on Jose Maria Gimenez resulted in a penalty being awarded – only for the referee to change his mind after being encouraged to view the incident on the pitch-side monitor.

Earlier, Salah had given the Reds the lead when his low finish at the end of a weaving run found the net off the toe of James Milner before Naby Keita’s brilliant volley doubled it.

Griezmann’s neat close-range finish and then superb turn and shot across Alisson restored parity, all before the break.

And in Paris, Lionel Messi scored twice as Paris St-Germain came from behind to beat RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

Kylian Mbappe put the hosts ahead, slamming into the bottom corner on the counter-attack.

But Andre Silva and Nordi Mukiele scored from Angelino crosses to put the German side ahead.

Messi had a shot tipped onto the post and tapped the rebound into an empty net – and then scored a Panenka penalty to win the game.

PSG won a penalty deep into injury time, but instead of Messi stepping up for a hat-trick, Mbappe took it instead – and skied it over the bar.

PSG go above Manchester City to the top of Champions League Group A on seven points.

Messi’s three goals since joining PSG as a free agent this summer have come in the Champions League, with the Argentine also netting in their 2-0 win over City.

The Barcelona legend, 34, is now on 123 Champions League goals, with Leipzig the 37th team he has scored against in the competition.

Meanwhile, Vinicius Junior scored two goals, including a brilliant solo effort, as Real Madrid thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.

An own goal by Sergiy Kryvtsov, who turned in a Lucas Vazquez cross, gave Real a one-goal lead at the break.

Vinicius scored twice in five minutes after the restart, sweeping in from close range before beating three players to add a brilliant third.

Rodrygo swept in Vinicius’ pass before Karim Benzema slid home late on.

It was a superb second-half display by Real and in particular Vinicius, who continued his fine run of form this season.

The 21-year-old has now scored seven goals in nine appearances for Real in all competitions – and these were his first in the Champions League this season.

Victory means Real are second in Group D, level on six points with leaders FC Sheriff.

Earlier, Riyad Mahrez scored twice and Cole Palmer got his first Champions League goal for Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s side put in a superb performance to sweep aside Belgian side Club Bruges.

The visitors were slick and confident from start to finish as they moved top of Group A with their second win in this season’s competition, reports the BBC.

City had been dominant from the outset but their opening goal did not arrive until the 30th minute when Joao Cancelo latched onto Phil Foden’s brilliant ball to slot through the legs of former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

Mahrez then added a second from the penalty spot just before the break after he had been fouled.

City did not ease up in the second half and the third goal arrived quickly as Mahrez found Kevin de Bruyne, whose one-touch ball sent Kyle Walker through and the full-back fired into the far corner.

Nineteen-year-old academy graduate Palmer then scored his side’s fourth just two minutes after coming onto the pitch, bending a fine shot into the back of the net from the edge of the box.

Hans Vanaken turned home a late cross for the hosts but City responded immediately to get their fifth, Mahrez running through before finishing coolly one-on-one.

The victory for City was the ideal response to defeat at Paris St-Germain in their previous Champions League outing as they moved onto six points from three games.

And in Turkey, Besiktas lost 4-1 to Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon

RESULTS

Club Bruges 1 – 5 Man City

Besiktas 1 – 4 Sporting

PSG 3 – 2 RB Leipzig

Atl Madrid 2 – 3 Liverpool

FC Porto 1 – 0 AC Milan

Ajax 4 – 0 B Dortmund

Inter Milan 3 -1 Sheriff Tiraspol

Shakhtar Donetsk 0 – 5 Real Madrid

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