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Barcelona overcome Juve as Morata has three goals disallowed
Ousmane Dembele struck early and Lionel Messi converted a late penalty as Barcelona won 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday after Alvaro Morata had three goals disallowed for offside for the Serie A side.
Dembele struck with a deflected shot in the 14th minute for a Barcelona side smarting from Saturday’s home defeat by Real Madrid and rocked by the resignation of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu on Tuesday.
Messi capped a fluid display from Ronald Koeman’s side by firing home the 14th penalty of his Champions League career to seal Barca’s first-ever win over Juventus in Turin and leave them top of Group G with six points from two games.
Juventus, still missing Cristiano Ronaldo after he tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago and still rebuilding under Andrea Pirlo, failed to record a shot on target despite Morata’s efforts.
Barca had three chances to take the lead in an extraordinary opening two minutes.
Leonardo Bonucci made a last-gasp tackle to stop Messi, Miralem Pjanic saw a shot parried by Wojciech Szczesny and Antoine Griezmann fired against the post, and it was no surprise when they went ahead in the 14th minute.
Messi found Dembele with a pinpoint crossfield pass and the Frenchman scored with a 20-metre shot which deflected off Federico Chiesa and looped beyond Szczesny.
Morata broke clear and had the ball in the net two minutes later but was offside and suffered the same fate when he volleyed home from Juan Cuadrado’s cross.
In between, Messi should have added a second but drove his shot wide of the far post after he was set up by Griezmann’s clever backheel.
Barca turned on the style at the start of the second half, penning Juve into their own half with some flowing passing moves.
Juve thought they had equalised again when Morata turned in an acrobatic Cuadrado cross but, after a long VAR check, it was again ruled out because his left heel was offside.
Juventus defender Merih Demiral was sent off for a second booking before Ansu Fati was clipped from behind and Messi emphatically converted the penalty.
Sub Rashford nets rapid hat-trick as United crush Leipzig
Substitute Marcus Rashford scored a superb quickfire hat-trick for Manchester United as they overwhelmed Germany’s RB Leipzig 5-0 at Old Trafford in Champions League group H on Wednesday.
The striker, in the headlines recently due to his campaigning over free school lunches, showed he has not been distracted from his day job as he came off the bench with 27 minutes left and led United to an impressive victory.
Rashford is only the second United player to score a hat-trick as a substitute after his manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did so against Nottingham Forest in 1999.
“I think the manager wanted me to up the tempo. That for us means going forward. There was definitely spaces there. We looked dangerous throughout and that we could score every time we went forward,” Rashford said.
“It was a real team performance. The ones who started did well and the substitutes did well too.”
Having won at Paris St Germain in their opening game, United are now in a commanding position in the group and are beginning to look like a squad with real strength in depth.
Solskjaer opted to leave Bruno Fernandes alongside Rashford on the bench and handed starts to Paul Pogba and Donny van de Beek in midfield.
Mason Greenwood, also restored to the starting line-up, opened the scoring in the 21st minute, delivering a clinical finish after being slipped through by Pogba.
The VAR review suggested Greenwood may have been narrowly offside but the goal was allowed to stand.
Leipzig, who reached the semi-finals in last season’s competition, stuck in the game well and could have drawn level when Ibrahima Konate’s header was kept out by David De Gea.
Rashford came on for Greenwood in the 63rd minute and soon set about deciding the match.
The England striker raced on to a long ball from Fernandes to make it 2-0 in the 74th minute, with the initial offside call being overturned on review.
Rashford made it 3-0 after Fred robbed Marcel Sabitzer and Anthony Martial added the fourth from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Sabitzer.
The hat-trick, inside 19 minutes, was completed in stoppage time when Rashford blasted home after good work from Martial cutting in from the left.
Kean at the double as PSG beat Basaksehir 2-0
Paris St Germain’s Moise Kean scored twice and Kylian Mbappe grabbed two assists as they overcame a sluggish start to beat Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir 2-0 away on Wednesday, securing their first win in this season’s group stage.
Kean opened the scoring in the Group H encounter in the 64th minute, heading home unmarked from an Mbappe corner from the left.
The 20-year-old Kean, on loan at PSG from Premier League Everton, got their second in the 79th minute, firing a left-footed shot into the net after controlling a pass from Mbappe.
“Towards the end of the first half we suffered. But we played a good game and held out until the end,” Kean said.
“Above all, I’m happy with my team mates. We played away, which isn’t easy. We held firm and got the win. This start will give me strength.”
PSG suffered an injury blow, however, as Brazil forward Neymar was forced off in the 26th minute due to a thigh problem and was replaced by Pablo Sarabia.
Last season’s beaten finalists PSG had suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United in their opening encounter last week, increasing the pressure on manager Thomas Tuchel.
PSG had struggled to create chances in a tight first half and needed their keeper Keylor Navas to save a rasping shot from Edin Visca in the 57th minute to stay on level terms.
Visca had another attempt a minute later blocked by Sarabia at point-blank range.
The Turkish champions, who are competing in the Champions League group stage for the first time, are without a point after two games having lost 2-0 to RB Leipzig in their opener.
