Erling Haaland back-heeled home a stunning strike, the first of two goals on the night for Manchester City’s goal-scoring machine, as City cruised past Sparta Prague 5-0 on Wednesday to remain unbeaten in their Champions League campaign.
Phil Foden, John Stones and Matheus Nunes also scored for Pep Guardiola’s side who climbed to third in Europe’s elite club competition with seven points after three games, while Sparta have four points.
The 24-year-old Foden got the 2023 Champions League winners on the scoreboard in the third minute when he latched on to a pass from Manuel Akanji and slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
Haaland brought the blue-clad City fans out of their seats at Etihad Stadium when he scored in spectacular fashion in the 58th minute, leaping high to backheel home Savinho’s cross from out of the air.
Stones padded City’s lead in the 64th minute when he leapt to head home from a superb cross from Nunes, and Haaland completed his brace with a more traditional finish four minutes later, easily slotting home a pass from Savinho to put his scoring tally at 44 Champions League goals.
City were awarded a penalty in the 88th minute, for a foul by Angelo Preciado, and Nunes fired his shot past keeper Peter Vindahl Jensen.
Nunez earns Liverpool narrow win at Leipzig
Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez took full advantage of a rare start with the winner in his side’s 1-0 victory at RB Leipzig as their 100% start in the Champions League continued on Wednesday.
With Diogo Jota ruled out because of injury, Uruguayan Nunez got his chance and delivered in the 27th minute by poking home Mohamed Salah’s header.
It proved enough to secure Liverpool’s sixth away win out of six in all competitions this season and maintain an excellent start to new manager Arne Slot’s reign.
Liverpool are second in the 36-team league phase with nine points, behind only Aston Villa on goal difference.
Leipzig twice had goals disallowed and wasted several other promising moments as their wait for a first point goes on.
Raphinha treble guides Barcelona to 4-1 thrashing of Bayern
Barcelona captain Raphinha scored a hat-trick to lead them to a commanding 4-1 home victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, ending a near decade-long winless run against the German powerhouses.
Raphinha’s inspired night started when he gave Barca the lead a little over a minute after kickoff as he received a fine pass through by midfielder Fermin Lopez, beat the offside trap before rounding the onrushing Manuel Neuer and tapping into the empty net.
Harry Kane levelled the score with a volley in the 18th minute but Robert Lewandowski put the home side back in front in the 36th minute after a mistake by Bayern’s defence and Raphinha extended Barca’s lead with two goals from quick counter-attacks either side of halftime.
Barca are ninth in the Champions League standings on six points from three games while Bayern are 23rd on three points after a second consecutive defeat.
Wednesday’s results:
Atalanta (0) 0 Celtic (0) 0
Brest (1) 1 Bayer Leverkusen (1) 1
Atlético Madrid (1) 1 Lille (0) 3
Barcelona (3) 4 Bayern München (1) 1
Benfica (0) 1 Feyenoord (2) 3
Salzburg (0) 0 Dinamo Zagreb (0) 2
Manchester City (1) 5 Sparta Praha (0) 0
RB Leipzig (0) 0 Liverpool (1) 1
Young Boys (0) 0 Internazionale (0) 1
