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Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in his 150th European appearance to give Real Madrid a 3-1 victory at Borussia Dortmund, their first against them in Germany, and make it two wins out of two matches in their Champions League Group H.
Ronaldo, who has now scored 411 goals in his 400 Real appearances, grabbed their second of the evening after a fine effort from Welshman Gareth Bale, who had put them ahead with a superb volley in the 18th minute.
The Spaniards punished the hosts for playing too high and found the gaps they needed to score. The Portuguese killed off the match, thumping the ball past keeper Roman Buerki in the 79th.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang briefly pulled one back in the 54th but the Germans could not replicate last season’s two-goal comeback to draw.
Real, whose lacklustre start in La Liga has left them in sixth place seven points off leaders Barcelona, have six points, level with Tottenham Hotspur who beat APOEL Nicosia 3-0. Bundesliga leaders Dortmund are in joint-last place without any points, after losing their opener at Spurs.
De Bruyne, Sterling strike as City sink Shakhtar
Kevin De Bruyne’s perfectly-struck 48th minute goal and a late Raheem Sterling effort gave Manchester City a 2-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in their Champions League Group F game on Tuesday to make it two wins out of two for Pep Guardiola’s side.
But City’s Argentine striker Sergio Aguero missed a chance to equal the club’s all-time scoring record when he had a 72nd minute penalty saved by Andriy Pyatov. The miss left him one goal behind Eric Brook’s record of 177 goals in all competitions.
The Premier League leaders now top Group F on six points with Shakhtar and Napoli both on three points and look in good shape to progress to the knockout phase.
After a frustrating first half, in which Shakhtar threatened on the break thanks to some clever moves by Brazilian Bernard while City struggled to find the final pass, De Bruyne broke the deadlock.
The Belgian unleashed a fine right-foot shot from the edge of the area after being well set-up by David Silva with Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov left helpless.
Kane 'trick' seals easy win for Spurs in Cyprus
A Harry Kane hat-trick saw Spurs notch their second win in as many games in Group H of the Champions League, beating Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia 3-0 in Cyprus on Tuesday.
With the Premier League side missing the creative spark of both Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli, it was down to the English striker to pick up the slack, and despite a spirited effort from the home side, Spurs ran out easy winners.
Apoel started shakily and could have been behind on more than one occasion, Heung-Min Son missing the best chance for Spurs when he headed over unmarked from five yards out.
The Cypriots slowly grew into the game, striking the bar and coming inches from opening the scoring themselves, following a calamitous clearance from Tottenham goakeeper Hugo Lloris just after the half-hour mark.
But it was Spurs who went ahead in the 38th minute when Kane finished coolly after he was left unmarked, 18 yards out. He was expertly found by Toby Alderweireld, placing the ball past the on-rushing Boy Waterman, despite appeals for offside from the home side.
Spurs doubled their lead and Kane got his second in the 62nd minute when Moussa Sissoko found the forward on the edge of the box and the Englishman made no mistake with his right foot.
Kane completed his ‘perfect’ hat-trick five minutes later by heading in a Kieran Trippier cross from the right to seal the win for Spurs.
Tottenham now have six points, along with Real Madrid who beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in Germany. Both APOEL and Dortmund remain without any points.
Wasteful Liverpool held by Spartak Moscow
Liverpool’s stuttering early-season form continued as they wasted a string of chances and needed a first-half equaliser from Philippe Coutinho to secure a 1-1 draw with Spartak Moscow in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Juergen Klopp’s side maintained their recent habit of conceding soft goals when goalkeeper Loris Karius was slow to react to a curling free-kick from 25 metres by Spartak’s Brazilian midfielder Fernando, which sailed into the net in the 23rd minute.
The visitors were back on level terms, however, eight minutes later when Sadio Mane, returning after a three-match domestic suspension, combined brilliantly with Coutinho, before the Brazilian fired the ball above Spartak goalkeeper Artem Rebrov.
“We did really well in creating chances against a very defence-oriented team,” Klopp told reporters. “In this moment we are not the most lucky team in world football.”
With draws in their first two Champions League fixtures, both Liverpool and Spartak have two points, and sit two points behind Group E leaders Sevilla, who beat Maribor 3-0.
Ben Yedder scores historic treble as Sevilla rout Maribor
Sevilla striker Wissam Ben Yedder became the first player in the club’s history to score a hat-trick in a European game as the Spaniards eased to a 3-0 home win over Maribor that put them top of Champions League Group E on Tuesday.
The Frenchman nudged in from close range in the 26th minute to give Eduardo Berizzo’s side the lead after a storming solo run from Argentine Joaquin Correa, who coasted past four players before cutting the ball back for his team mate to score.
Yedder then latched onto a simple through ball from Franco Vazquez after some smart passing in midfield to tuck the ball under visiting goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic and in off the far post in the 37th.
He completed his hat-trick with seven minutes remaining from the penalty spot, slamming the ball just under Handanovic and into the bottom corner after his compatriot Sebastian Corchia was knocked over in the area.
Aboubakar scores twice as Porto thrash Monaco
AS Monaco’s Champions League campaign suffered a huge blow as last season’s semi-finalists fell victim to a Vincent Aboubakar double in a 3-0 home defeat by Porto.
Cameroon striker Aboubakar scored in each half and Miguel Layun rounded off the win in the closing stages to put Porto second in Group G with three points from two games, three behind leaders Besiktas who won 2-0 at home to Leipzig.
Monaco, who lost 3-0 to Porto in the 2004 Champions League final, are third with Leipzig bottom also on one point.
It was the principality side’s biggest Champions League home defeat.
The hosts lost many of their top players in the close season, including exciting teenage striker Kylian Mbappe, but they managed to create some early chances.
However, Porto stayed calm as Monaco piled on the pressure and were more clinical in a lively encounter at Stade Louis II.
Besiktas beat RB Leipzig to earn second victory
First half goals from Ryan Babel and Talisca earned Besiktas a 2-0 victory over RB Leipzig in their Champions League game on Tuesday, making it successive Group G wins for the Turkish champions.
The home side looked threatening from the outset and Babel capitalised in the 11th minute when Cenk Tosun cut in from the left and crossed for the Dutch winger to fire a side-footed shot beyond Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
Talisca doubled the Istanbul side’s lead in the 43rd minute, meeting a cross from Ricardo Quaresma with a diving header from close range.
The Bundesliga side made a brighter start to the second half but their momentum was interrupted when a floodlight failure brought proceedings to a halt for 10 minutes.
Upon resumption Besiktas were content to soak up the pressure and Leipzig were unable to find a way through in their second ever game in the Champions League.
Besiktas lead Group G with six points while Leipzig are level on one point with last season’s semi-finalists AS Monaco who were beaten 3-0 at home to second-placed Porto.
