CLeague: Rooney fires United, late Aguero goal seals City win

Wayne Rooney converted two second-half penalties to give Manchester United their first victory in Champions League Group C with a nervous 2-0 success at Romanian debutants Otelul Galati on Tuesday.

United played the last quarter of the game with 10 men after defender Nemanja Vidic, who returned to the starting line-up for the first time since suffering a calf injury in August, was sent off for a foul on Gabriel Giurgiu.

Rooney stayed calm to score from the spot in the 64th minute and he repeated the feat in stoppage time as United laboured to a much-needed victory after draws in their first two group matches.

The home side also finished the game with 10 men after Milan Perendija was sent off in the dying minutes.

United, runners-up to Barcelona in last season's competition, climbed to second in the standings with five points from three games. Leaders Benfica have seven points.

"I'm satisfied with the result and the performance," United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports. "We lacked penetration in the first half but we stayed patient and got the result we needed. It's not easy playing away from home."

Ferguson started with Rooney and Javier Hernandez in attack after resting the pair in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Liverpool but they struggled to create chances as the Romanian side defended strongly.

United continued to dominate possession after the interval and the breakthrough finally came when Otelul defender Sergiu Costin needlessly handled Rooney's cross and the England striker stepped up to convert the resulting spot-kick.

Vidic was sent off minutes later and Otelul sensed a chance to get back in the match but United kept hold of the ball well and Otelul were also reduced to 10 men when Perendija was sent off after receiving his second yellow card for fouling Hernandez.

Liviu Antal then tripped Rooney in the area in stoppage time and the United striker steered his second penalty into the corner of the net to secure the points.

Substitute Sergio Aguero scored in stoppage time to give Manchester City a dramatic 2-1 win at home to Villarreal in Champions League Group A on Tuesday.

The visitors stunned the home crowd in the fourth minute when City keeper Joe Hart could only parry Giuseppe Rossi's shot, sending the ball straight to the feet of Cani who slid it home.

City pushed for the equaliser with chance after chance against a side who barely ventured forward again but had to wait until the 43rd minute to get off the mark when Villarreal defender Carlos Marchena put the ball past his own keeper.

The result puts City on four points from three games, with Villarreal yet to score a point. Bayern Munich head the group on seven after a 1-1 draw at Napoli who have five.

Spain international David Silva, who had before the game warned his City teammates of the danger the visitors posed on the break, would have done well to remember his words when he carelessly lost the ball to put them through.

Roberto Mancini's decision to bring on holding midfielder Gareth Barry for the more attacking Adam Johnson in the 40th minute stabilised City and allowed Yaya Toure to get further forward and they made it count soon afterwards.

The lively Alexsandar Kolarov sent a cross from the left towards the rushing Edin Dzeko in the box but the sliding Marchena got to it first and turned it past his own keeper.

The hosts had a golden chance for Dzeko early in the second half but his shot was blocked by Lopez, who also denied Samir Nasri shortly afterwards.

Dzeko had the ball in the back of the net with a cracking shot but was offside as the English side continued to dominate proceedings.

Real Madrid swept aside Olympique Lyon 4-0 on Tuesday, a third consecutive victory leaving them clear at the top of Champions League Group D.

Goals by Karim Benzema, Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil and Sergio Ramos made sure Jose Mourinho's side had an easy day at the office.

France striker Benzema tapped in at the far post in the 19th minute to leave his former club on the rack as Madrid were utterly dominant at the Bernabeu.

Midfielder Khedira scored from Benzema's cross in the 47th minute and fellow German Ozil bagged the third soon after, Lyon keeper Hugo Lloris helping the ball into his own net. Ramos also smashed in a volley near the end.

Lyon, who have four points from three games, showed little ambition and sat deep in their own half for most of the time.

Cristiano Ronaldo glanced a corner towards the back post and Benzema slid in to score the opener as Real threatened to completely overwhelm the visitors.

Lyon's Bafetimbi Gomis had a goal ruled out for offside in the 28th minute but it was a rare attacking foray as the chances stacked up for Ronaldo and company.

Soon after the second-half restart Benzema broke away down the left and crossed low into the centre for Khedira to stroke in the second.

Lloris then helped in Ozil's cross-cum shot in the 55th.

Lyon seemed concerned about avoiding a heavy defeat towards the end as Real's in-form duo Kaka and Gonzalo Higuain entered the fray.

The French team's defence was static when Ramos won a header at a corner, waited for the ball to bounce and then volleyed in the fourth.

Morgan De Sanctis saved a second-half penalty from Mario Gomez as Napoli earned a 1-1 draw against a dominant Bayern Munich in a lively Group A encounter at the San Paolo stadium on Tuesday.

Bayern struck first with only two minutes on the clock when Toni Kroos was allowed acres of space inside the Napoli box before placing his shot into the corner.

Napoli, who have not lost at home since returning to European competition three years ago, equalised on 39 minutes when Christian Maggio's right-wing cross was deflected into the net by Holger Badstuber's lunging dive.

Bayern piled on the pressure after Gomez had his 49th-minute penalty saved but Napoli held on, with the result leaving the Germans top of the group on seven points with Napoli in second place on five. Manchester City lie third on four.

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri said he was delighted to be second at the halfway point of the group.

"Some people said that at this stage we would be bottom," he said. "We haven't set targets so after each game we have to see where we are.

"Our boys are not used to games like these. After their goal we changed tactics and played a great game. This is one of the best sides in Europe -- they've won twice already in the group. In the end, we could even have won it."

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said the draw was a crucial step towards qualification to the knockout stages.

"I'm not a prophet, but I'm confident now we will qualify," he said. "We came here to win -- and I think we deserved the win -- but I'm fairly happy with a draw.

"We went at Napoli at the start, controlled the game and stayed tight at the back. Napoli played with a lot of heart and I think they stand a good chance of qualifying too."

The German giants made the perfect start on two minutes when Kroos collected Thomas Muller's pass and ran through the heart of the Napoli defence before calmly sidefooting the ball past De Sanctis's despairing dive to silence the home fans.

Napoli tried to respond to the body-blow immediately, but Hugo Campagnaro's seventh-minute drive whistled the wrong side of the post.

Bayern, whose impressive early season form under Heynckes has seen them open up a five-point lead in the Bundesliga, began to boss things. Gomez, shooting wide from the edge of the box, and Jerome Boateng, volleying a corner across the face of goal, almost doubled their lead.

The Napoli attacking trio were failing to fire but they equalised against the run of play six minutes before halftime when Maggio, breaking down the right, saw his cross-shot take a small but damaging deflection off Badstuber, wrong-foot Manuel Neuer and nestle in the net to ignite the San Paolo.

There was more deafening noise after halftime but jeers when Paolo Cannavaro was adjudged to have handled Gomez's fierce shot. The cheers returned when De Sanctis dived to his left to save Gomez's weakly hit spotkick.

Muller should have given Bayern the lead on 54 minutes but poked his effort wide of goal after another dangerous corner produced an almighty scramble in the Napoli area.

Napoli, back in Europe's premier competition for the first time since the days of Diego Maradona, struggled to muster a clear-cut opening but managed to keep Bayern at bay to take something from a match that had begun so badly.

"When I heard Manchester City had scored in the last minute I just thought, 'that's football'," said Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, whose side would have been three points ahead of the English club if Sergio Aguero had not scored a late winner against Villarreal.

"We have nothing to lose. We are young and strong. Maybe a draw will do against City."

Inter Milan finally found something to cheer about when Giampaolo Pazzini's first-half goal gave them a 1-0 win at Lille and top spot in Champions League Group B on Tuesday.

Pazzini volleyed home in the 21st minute to put Inter, who are 17th in Serie A after a terrible start to the season, on six points from three games.

They lead CSKA Moscow, who beat Trabzonspor 3-0 earlier on Tuesday, by two points, with the Turks and Russians on four and French champions Lille bottom on two points.

Lille dominated the match but were caught cold by Pazzini's strike and, despite fine performances by Eden Hazard and Joe Cole, lacked presence in the area to get on the scoresheet.

It was only Inter's second clean sheet of the season, their first since a goalless draw against AS Roma a month ago, as the visitors played cautiously throughout.

The goal spurred Lille into action, with Hazard turning on the engine in the midfield, making the Inter defence's life a misery with a string of devastating runs on the right flank.

On the left wing, Cole was also in a class of his own but Julio Cesar was quick off his line to collect the former England international's through pass towards Moussa Sow.

Inter were happy to sit back and wait, proving dangerous on the break with Zarate the main threat to the Lille defence.

The hosts came into the second half with all guns blazing but they lacked bite in the box, prompting coach Rudi Garcia to replace midfielder Benoit Pedretti with striker Dimitri Payet after the hour mark.

Payet had a clear chance in the 66th minute but his fine curled shot from just inside the area was palmed away by Julio Cesar.

A slick move finished off by Bruno Cesar and an Oscar Cardozo free kick gave Benfica a 2-0 win at FC Basel on Tuesday, their second successive away win in Champions League Group C.

Brazilian Bruno Cesar side-footed home in the 20th minute and Paraguay striker Cardozo, who had only been on the pitch for a few minutes rifled in a free kick for the second in the 75th minute.

Benfica were the more polished side, although Basel also created several clear chances, visiting goalkeeper Artur securing the three points with an outstanding display.

Unbeaten Benfica top the group with seven points from three games while Basel, who held Manchester United 3-3 away in their previous match, remained stuck on four after their first loss, a point behind the English champions.

Xherdan Shaqiri was close for Basel with an early shot and Alexander Frei tested Artur with a deflected effort before Bruno Cesar broke the deadlock after a superb exchange of passes centered around Nicolas Gaitan.

Marco Streller and Shaqiri were both denied equalisers by Arthur before halftime as Basel fought back. Gaitan then wasted a chance for Benfica after he fired over from the same position Bruno Cesar had scored from.

Benfica appeared to be in control for most of the second half as Pablo Aimar and Emerson both had shots blocked by Yann Sommer.

Streller then got clear for Basel but Arthur made another stunning save.

Beanpole striker Cardozo secured the points for Benfica as his low free kick found its way through the defensive wall.

Ajax Amsterdam breathed new life into their Champions League campaign by easing past Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in an entertaining Group D match on Tuesday.

The win gave Ajax four points from three games, level with Olympique Lyon ahead of the reverse fixture against Dinamo in the Amsterdam Arena on November 2. Real Madrid lead the way with nine points while the Croatians are bottom on zero.

Seeking their first Champions League win since 1999, Dinamo fielded an attacking formation but Ajax always looked the more likely winners and Derk Boerrigter's opening goal was no more than they deserved at the Maksimir stadium.

The striker silenced a vociferous home crowd in the 49th minute with a crisp low shot into the far corner of the net from 18 metres.

Christian Eriksen then made it 2-0 in the 90th minute when he rounded the last defender and placed the ball beyond keeper Ivan Kelava.

Ajax squandered a hatful of chances in a lively first half as both sides threw caution to the wind.

Dinamo missed a good opportunity when Jerko Leko's effort was well saved by Kenneth Vermeer.

The visitors came straight back with a swerving free kick by captain Jan Vertonghen that was parried by Kelava into the path of Siem de Jong who scuffed the rebound wide with the goal at his mercy.

Kelava again came to Dinamo's rescue by denying Eriksen and Boerrigter while the wasteful de Jong headed wide from close range.

Dinamo striker Ante Rukavina then sliced a shot from the edge of the penalty area high and wide after an excellent solo run before a header by de Jong shaved the post at the other end on the stroke of halftime.

After Boerrigter opened the scoring Ajax again wasted several chances while Kelava produced a superb reflex save to deny Theo Janssen when the midfielder was sent clean through after a flowing move.

Seydou Doumbia struck twice to lead CSKA Moscow to a 3-0 win over Trabzonspor in the Champions League on Tuesday for their first win in Group B.

The victory put CSKA level with the Turkish side on four points with Lille (two points) hosting Inter Milan (on three) later on Tuesday.

Ivory Coast striker Doumbia put the Russians ahead in the 29th minute after being set-up by Vagner Love's clever back-heel.

The Brazilian also helped set up the second goal scored by substitute Aleksandrs Cauna who struck a fine volley midway through the second half.

Doumbia, who scored CSKA's goals in a 2-2 draw at Lille in their group opener last month, completed the rout with a great solo effort four minutes from time.

Trabzonspor are only in the group stage after Fenerbahce were banned from the competition over a match-fixing scandal in Turkey but they came to Moscow in first place after a shock 1-0 away win over 2010 champions Inter in their opening game.

"Trabzonspor are a good team with good players and their win over Inter Milan did not surprise me at all," Doumbia told reporters. "But tonight we were the better team because we created a lot of chances and scored three goals and also kept our concentration from the first minute to the last."

However, the visitors, missing leading scorer Burak Yilmaz through suspension, looked tentative for most of the match, creating only a handful of chances.

Brazilian midfielder Alanzinho wasted their best opportunity early in the game with the score at 0-0 after going one-on-one with CSKA keeper Vladimir Gabulov.

"I think we fully deserved our victory tonight," CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky told Russian television NTV Plus.

"We controlled the tempo and created most of the chances in the game while they only had one clear chance in the first half.

"I'm especially pleased because we did not give up a goal in a Champions League match for the first time since holding Arsenal (to a 0-0 draw in London five years ago)."

His Turkish counterpart, Senol Gunes, remained optimistic.

"We didn't win but it's not the end of the world. We still have three more games to play," said the Trabzonspor coach.