Soccer

Champions League: Haaland brace lifts Man City as Newcastle fall to defeat at home to Dortmund

Celtic hold on for a 2-2 draw at home to Atletico Madrid

Erling Haaland of Manchester City challenges Anthony Racioppi of Young Boys during the Champions League match. Photograph: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images
Erling Haaland of Manchester City challenges Anthony Racioppi of Young Boys during the Champions League match. Photograph: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images
Wed Oct 25 2023 - 22:13

Young Boys 1 Manchester City 3

Erling Haaland ended his goal drought with a brace while Manuel Akanji scored on his return to his homeland as reigning champions Manchester City all but secured their spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League with a 3-1 win over Swiss side Young Boys on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola’s side maintained their 100 per cent winning record in Group G with three victories, despite their pre-game concerns about playing on the slick artificial turf at Wankdorf Stadium in Bern.

Haaland scored for the first time in six Champions League games with a penalty in the 67th minute after Mohamed Camara's tackle on Rodri in the box. City's goal-scoring machine added a fabulous second goal when he moved the ball from his left foot to his right before firing it into the top corner in the 86th.

City had a string of first-half near misses before Akanji finally broke the deadlock three minutes after the break when Ruben Dias's header was pushed off the crossbar by keeper Anthony Racioppi and the Swiss defender lunged to poke it in.

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But Young Boys caught City keeper Ederson in no man's land to level four minutes later, sending in Meschack Elia with a superb pass which he scooped high over Ederson into the net.

Young Boys are third on one point after three matches.

Newcastle 0 Borussia Dortmund 1

Borussia Dortmund rekindled their hopes in Champions League Group F with a gritty 1-0 victory at Newcastle United thanks to Felix Nmecha’s clinical first half strike.

Nmecha’s first-time finish near the end of a high-octane opening half proved enough for the Bundesliga side to post their first win in the group at the third time of asking.

After a wide-open half, Dortmund defended their lead solidly after the break although Callum Wilson headed a chance against the crossbar and Newcastle struck the woodwork again deep into stoppage time.

Defeat was an anti-climax for Newcastle after their win over Paris St Germain in the previous match, and the group is now wide open. PSG have six points with Newcastle and Dortmund both on four points and Milan on two.

Celtic 2 Atletico Madrid 2

Atletico Madrid battled back twice to draw 2-2 at Celtic in a thrilling Champions League Group E clash on Wednesday in which the Spanish side played the last few minutes with 10 men.

Feyenoord took over top spot in the standings on six points after a 3-1 win at Lazio earlier on Wednesday and the draw left Atletico second on five points, one clear of Italy’s Lazio in third. Celtic are bottom with one point from three games.

Roared on at a sold-out Celtic Park, speedy Kyogo Furuhashi made the most of the hosts’ early pressure and ghosted between two Atletico defenders to open the scoring with a tidy close-range finish after four minutes.

Atletico equalised when Antoine Griezmann put the ball into an empty net after his penalty had struck the post.

Luis Palma put Celtic back ahead three minutes later with a brilliant curling shot from a wide angle.

Atletico equalised again, however, in the 53rd minute with fine diving header by Alvaro Morata that arched over goalkeeper Joe Hart.

The visitors dominated the closing stages and missed several chances to grab a winner before midfielder Rodrigo de Paul was shown a second yellow card for a hint of contact in a challenge with Paulo Bernardo, but the Spanish side hung on the draw.

PSG 3 AC Milan 0

Another Kylian Mbappe moment of magic and a Randal Kolo Muani goal helped Paris St Germain beat a toothless AC Milan 3-0 at the Parc des Princes to go top of their Champions League Group F.

France forward Mbappe broke the deadlock with a clever low shot before the break, before Kolo Muani doubled the advantage in the second half after some fine play by their national team partner Ousmane Dembele.

Lee Kang-in added a third in the last minute for good measure.

While it was not an easy affair in the first half, Luis Enrique’s side prevailed to be on six points from three games, two ahead of Borussia Dortmund who claimed a 1-0 win at Newcastle United.

AC Milan, who have now failed to score in five consecutive Champions League games and netted only once in their last four competitive matches, are bottom of the group on two points.