Champions Lg round-up: Man United maul CSKA in Moscow

Manchester United made it two wins out of two in Champions League Group A as they made light work of a very poor CKSA Moscow, collecting a 4-1 win at VEB Arena.

The win leaves United top of the group and looking every bit a contender to go far in this year’s competition.  

United’s free-scoring target-man Romelu Lukaku took just four minutes to add to his tally this season and make it seven successive goalscoring games. Anthony Martial cut in from the left and found Lukaku at the back post to outmuscle his marker and head home into the bottom-right corner from eight yards out.  

The Russian side could and should have levelled the tie two minutes later when Aleksandr Golovin played Alan Dzagoev in 20 yards out, with plenty of space to exploit; however, David de Gea got down superbly to his right to tip away the effort on goal.  

It was United who were to score next as they doubled their advantage 18 minutes in. Georgi Shchennikov went to ground to challenge Henrik Mkhitaryan on the right side of the area, taking the Armenian down in the process, with the extra official signalling a penalty was to be awarded. Martial stood up for the spot-kick duties, sending keeper Igor Akinfeev the wrong way as he buried the ball in the bottom-right corner.  

An utterly dominant United made it 3-0 before a half-hour was played with Lukaku grabbing his second of the night. Martial delivered a low ball into the box from the left, with Vasili Berezutski making a total mess of his clearance, missing the ball completely and allowing it to bounce to an unmarked Lukaku to tap home from a yard out.  

Just prior to the hour, Jose Mourinho’s men added their fourth. Sergei Iganshevich gave the ball away cheaply for Moscow with Martial scooping up possession before storming in on goal and firing an effort low and left, with Akinfeev parrying away to his right, where it fell for Mkitharyan to turn home with a pinpoint low strike.  

The last goal of the game went the way of Moscow as they grabbed a consolation late on to the delight of their vocal home crowd. A delicate ball from Golovin found Konstantin Kuchaev at an angle in the box, where he drilled the ball home through De Gea’s leg’s to give a slightly better gloss to the scoreline for the home side.  

In the group’s other clash Basel hammered Benfica 5-0 at St Jakob Park, with goals from Michael Lang, Dimitri Oberlin (2), Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Blas Riveros, to place themselves second in the standings on goal difference from CSKA.

You can watch all of Manchester United’s Champions League campaign on the eir Sport package. Jose Mourinho’s side will face Basel, Benfica and CSKA Moscow in Group A.

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea came from behind to claim a 2-1 win on the road against Atletico Madrid at Estadio Wanda Metropolitano in Group C, with Michy Batshuayi scoring the winner with the last kick of the match.  

Chelsea hit the post in Madrid after 13 minutes, with Eden Hazard picking up the ball 30 yards out before smashing a shot on goal and beating keeper Jan Oblak, with the woodwork coming to the rescue of the Slovenian shot-stopper.  

It was to be Atletico that were the first to score in the Spanish capital. David Luiz was penalised for tugging on the shirt of Lucas Hernandez at a corner with referee Cuneyt Cakir of Turkey pointing to the spot. France international Antoine Griezmann made absolutely no mistake with the penalty as he hammered the ball into the roof of the net.  

The Blues were level on 59 minutes with former Real Madrid man Alvaro Morata getting his seventh goal of the season as he marked one up against his old city rivals. Luiz played the ball out wide to Hazard on the left, with the Belgian international cutting inside, before whipping a cross towards the near corner for Morata to flick home past Oblak in nets.  

The Blues completed the turnaround with the last play of the match. Tiemoue Bakayoko found Marcos Alonso on the right wing, to ping a cross into the centre for Batshuayi to direct the ball home, and give Chelsea a deserved three points and a place at the top of the table.

In the group’s other clash Roma also took an away victory with a 2-1 win over Qarabag at Baki Olimpiya Stadionu. The Italian side scored both their goals in the opening 15 minutes through Konstantinos Manolas and former Man City man Edin Dzeko. Qarabag pulled one back through Pedro Henrique but couldn’t find a leveller, leaving Roma second in Group C.

You can watch all of Chelsea’s Champions League campaign on the eir Sport package. Antonio Conte’s side will face Atletico Madrid, Qarabag and Roma in Group C.

Celtic overpowered Anderlecht 3-0 at Constant Vanden Stock in Group B to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive.

The Scottish champions started a little off-colour early on against Belgium’s most successful club, but despite a shaky start Brendan Rodgers team were ahead on 38 minutes. Olivier Ntcham made good ground before playing a superb ball down the left channel, with Kieran Tierney accelerating into space to get on the end of it. Having collected possession, he briefly looked up, before spreading the ball across the face of goal for Leigh Griffiths to get a touch and tap home.  

The Bhoys doubled their advantage five minutes after the break. Some poor ball skills from Olivier Deschacht saw the defender allow the ball to roll under his foot and into the path of Patrick Roberts to run onto it as he made his way into the area, before unleashing a curling shot on goal that took a deflection off Kara Mbodji to direct it past keeper Frank Boeckx and into the net.  

The rout was completed three minutes into injury time with Scott Sinclair rifling home an unstoppable shot to the top corner, which left keeper Boeckx no chance.  

In the group’s other game, big spending PSG laid out their title credentials for all to see as they blitzed Bayern Munich 3-0 at Parc des Princes. The world’s most-expensive footballer, Neymar, was the architect of the victory, assisting Dani Alves for the Parisians first, before grabbing the third himself. Those strikes sandwiched an absolute thunderbolt from Edison Cavani following an assist from teenage superstar Kylian Mbappe.  

PSG top the group with six points, with Bayern second on three points, ahead of Celtic only on goal difference. 

You can watch all of Celtic's Champions League campaign on the eir Sport package. Brendan Rodgers' side will face German champions Bayern Munich, Anderlecht of Belgium and French giants Paris Saint-Germain in Group B.

Group D saw Barcelona beat Sporting Lisbon 1-0 at Estadio Jose Alvalade, courtesy of a Sebastian Coates own goal. Juventus overcame Olympiacos 2-0 at the Allianz Stadium. Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Mandzukic were the men on the scoresheet. Barca top the group on six points, with Sporting and Juventus both on three points – the Portuguese side ahead on goal difference.

Image: Getty/Dan Mullan

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