Incredible night at St James’ as Newcastle shock PSG
Newcastle United recorded a stunning 4-1 victory over Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain, while Manchester City beat RB Leipzig 3-1 to wrap up Matchday Two in the UEFA Champions League.
Eddie Howe’s side top the ‘group of death’ – Group F – after two games as the North East side overcame PSG on a famous night at a raucous St James’ Park.
Miguel Almiron gave Eddie Howe’s side the dream start in the 17th minute, pouncing on a rebound after Alexander Isak’s shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma following a misplaced pass by Marquinhos.
Local boy Dan Burn doubled Newcastle’s lead six minutes before the break when he headed in following a goalmouth scramble, much to the fury of PSG who were adamant the ball struck the defender’s arm. The goal was given after a lengthy VAR check.
Another Geordie, Sean Longstaff, added further to PSG’s humiliation in the second half when he ran into the box unmarked to meet Kieran Trippier’s pass before slotting a shot past Donnarumma at his near post.
Lucas Hernandez scored a consolation when he headed in from Warren Zaire-Emery’s scooped pass before Fabian Schar sent the home fans into ecstasy once again with a sublime long-range effort a minute into stoppage-time.
Reflecting on the win, TNT Sports expert Rio Ferdinand paid tribute to Newcastle.
He stated: “It was a team game plan, they set it out, and they stuck to it, to a man. They were perfect all over the pitch. They played high-risk football, pressing football and it paid off. These fans have to take some credit as well, the way that they’ve played their part.
“What is at the heart of this? What is at the heart of a performance like that? What do you need on a day like this? Desire, the work ethic, the intensity, all of those layers they had. And the quality.”
Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Longstaff said: “It’s some night. I think we knew it was going to be special with the atmosphere but for me and Burny [Dan Burn] to score on a night like tonight is pretty surreal and I am lost for words really.
“It is [a dream come true]. I think to be honest there are some of us that thought three years ago we were probably out of the door and it wasn’t a great place to be. I am so proud to be from Newcastle and I am over the moon.”
Burn added: “Crazy. It has not sunk in, I am a bit speechless. We wanted to entertain the crowd and get the crowd behind us, but we did well.
“We knew PSG were not going to change the way they play. The times to play high up the pitch and we had the crowd pushing us, we had that for the last goal with the crowd pushing us on for Fabs’ [Fabian Schar] goal.”
On playing – and scoring – in the Champions League, Burn said it was “like a dream”, adding: “I am waiting for someone to wake me up, I am waiting for the bubble to pop.”
In-form Alvarez helps City win at RB Leipzig
It took City 25 minutes to find the opener when Phil Foden’s shot into the ground beat Janis Blaswich.
But just three minutes after the break, Leipzig restored parity with a goal on the break, Yussuf Poulsen releasing Lois Openda, who finished calmly past Ederson.
With six minutes remaining, the in-form Julian Alvarez curled in a beautiful shot into the top corner from 18 yards, before Jeremy Doku wrapped up the scoring in the second minute of added-time.
In his post-match interview, Foden was full of praise for Alvarez, who now has three goals in the Champions League this season.
He told TNT Sports: “Magical. Julian has been top this season. He is someone we look to now to score the big goals. He came on and changed the game and he is a big player for us.”
The result takes City back to winning ways after back-to-back defeats, and Foden added: “The last two games have not been ideal for us. We came off the back of two rubbish results and we had to make that right.”
Lazio break Celtic hearts
Celtic are still waiting for their first home win in the Champions League in 10 years after Brendan Rodgers’ side conceded late to lose 2-1 to Lazio in Group E.
Kyogo Furuhashi gave Celtic lift-off at Parkhead when the Japan international completed a fine team move, firing home from a Matt O’Reilly pass with just 12 minutes on the clock.
But Celtic were pegged back just over 15 minutes later when, from a corner, Matias Vecino beat Joe Hart in scrappy fashion.
Luis Palma thought he had won it for Celtic until VAR intervened, and Pedro won it for the Serie A side five minutes into added-time.
Dortmund and Milan play out goalless draw
The only goalless draw of the night occurred at Signal Iduna Park where Dortmund and AC Milan played out a stalemate.
Both clubs are still searching for a victory in Group F, but it’ll be Milan the happier of the two sides as the result leaves them just a point behind second-placed PSG, while Dortmund are bottom.
Dortmund lost 2-0 in Paris in the opening week, while Milan were held in a stalemate by Newcastle.
Super-sub Torres inspires Barcelona to victory
The Catalans lost Robert Lewandowski to injury with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, but on the stroke of half-time his replacement Torres gave Barcelona a lead, slightly against the run of play.
After the restart, Porto thought they had a penalty when Joao Cancelo was adjudged to have handled inside the box, but the referee’s decision was overturned by VAR.
Gavi was sent off after picking up his second yellow in added-time but it didn’t take the shine off another impressive win for Xavi Hernandez’s side.
Crvena zvezda late stunner earns draw with Young Boys
Crvena zvezda netted late to secure a 2-2 draw with Young Boys in Group C.
Young Boys’ Filip Ugrinic cancelled out Cherif Ndiaye’s 35th-minute opener just three minutes into the second half.
Cedric Itten gave the visitors the lead for the first time in the game just past the hour-mark when he scored from the spot following a handball.
However, the hosts would have the final say when Osman Bukari levelled with a stunner with just two minutes remaining.
Atletico Madrid edge five-goal thriller to beat Feyenoord
Atletico Madrid scraped past Feyenoord in a five-goal thriller to gain their first Champions League win of the season.
Strike partners Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann scored to help Atletico twice come from behind to beat their Dutch opponents 3-2 in Group E.
Morata scored twice, but it was his first goal – after Feyenoord had taken an early lead through a Mario Hermoso own goal – that caused controversy after initially being disallowed for offside.
Rodrigo de Paul looked to split the Feyenoord defence with a through ball to Saul Niguez who had strayed offside, but as Mats Wieffer cut the pass out, he could only guide it into the path of the onside Morata to steer home an equaliser.
Referee Francois Letexier was advised to review the incident on the pitchside monitor and consequently overturned the decision as the Metropolitano Stadium erupted in celebration.
Diego Simone’s side would fall behind again when defender David Hancko followed up his saved volley from a free-kick to score.
Deep into added time in the first half, Griezmann came to Atletico’s aid when he hooked the ball from close range over the head of Timon Wellenreuther and into the net.
Griezmann’s strike marked his 27th goal contribution in 33 home matches for the club in the competition – scoring 19 times and assisting a further seven, the most of any player in the club’s history.
And Morata would go on to score the winner minutes into the second half, poking Nahuel Molina’s perfect cross beyond Wellenreuther.
Penalty agony for Alderweireld as Shakhtar overcome Antwerp
Royal Antwerp were 19 minutes away from securing their first-ever Champions League win in Group H, but a quickfire Shakhtar double shattered those hopes, while Toby Alderweireld missed the opportunity to snatch a point.
Arbnor Muja struck after only three minutes to put the hosts ahead and Michel Balikwisha doubled the Belgian side’s lead with a goal in the 34th minute.
Shakhtar started the second half strongly and Danylo Sikan halved the deficit within minutes.
As Antwerp tried to hold on, Yaroslav Rakitskiy struck for the visitors to equalise with less than 20 minutes to go and Sikan scored a second five minutes later to dampen spirits inside Bosuilstadion.
With the game looking beyond them, Antwerp were awarded a penalty in the 96th minute when Taras Stepanenko was deemed to have handled Alderweireld’s hopeful shot.
The former Tottenham defender placed the ball on the ball on the spot himself but steered his effort to the left of the goal, squandering what would have been a precious point.
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