PARIS, Oct 2 — Holders Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to defeat Barcelona 2-1 with a dramatic last-minute winner in the Champions League yesterday, while Manchester City were held to a 2-2 draw in Monaco despite an Erling Haaland brace.
PARIS, Oct 2 — Holders Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to defeat Barcelona 2-1 with a dramatic last-minute winner in the Champions League yesterday, while Manchester City were held to a 2-2 draw in Monaco despite an Erling Haaland brace.
Arsenal and Newcastle United both cruised to victories, with Napoli and Borussia Dortmund also among the teams to secure wins on the second matchday of the league phase.
The clash at Montjuic between Spain’s champions and the reigning French and European champions was one of the most anticipated ties of the group stage — and it delivered.
Despite missing Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele through injury, PSG showed their depth. Barcelona struck first in the 19th minute when Marcus Rashford teed up Ferran Torres. But PSG levelled before halftime through Senny Mayulu, and in the 90th minute, Achraf Hakimi provided the assist for substitute Goncalo Ramos to grab the decisive goal, giving PSG their second win in as many matches.
“It was a great game between two very strong sides,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told Canal Plus. “It proves the mentality and strength of our squad — no matter who plays, we perform as one team.”
In Monaco, Haaland netted twice in the first half to take his Champions League tally to 52 goals in 50 appearances. But City couldn’t hold on, as Jordan Teze’s thunderous strike and a late penalty converted by Eric Dier saw the match finish level, leaving City denied back-to-back wins.
“I’m not sure it was a penalty, but it was given. That’s football,” Pep Guardiola told TNT Sports. “We’ll take the point and move forward.”
Arsenal maintained their perfect record with a 2-0 win over Olympiakos in London. Gabriel Martinelli pounced on a rebound for the opener, while substitute Bukayo Saka sealed the victory in stoppage time.
“Winning in this competition is never easy. Another clean sheet is remarkable from the team,” said manager Mikel Arteta.
Earlier, Newcastle powered past Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise with a 4-0 away win. Nick Woltemade opened the scoring, Anthony Gordon netted two penalties on either side of halftime, and Harvey Barnes capped the rout late on.
Dortmund also impressed, crushing Athletic Bilbao 4-1. Daniel Svensson and Carney Chukwuemeka put them in control before Gorka Guruzeta pulled one back, but Serhou Guirassy and Julian Brandt sealed the victory.
Napoli finally registered their first European win of the season, edging Sporting 2-1 thanks to a Rasmus Hojlund double. Luis Suarez briefly equalised for the Portuguese side from the penalty spot before Napoli regained the lead.
Juventus, who drew 4-4 with Dortmund in their opener, played out another stalemate, this time 2-2 with Villarreal. Georges Mikautadze gave Villarreal the lead, Federico Gatti equalised with an overhead kick, and Chico Conceicao put Juve ahead before Renato Veiga nodded in the leveller.
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven drew 1-1 in Germany, while Qarabag continued their surprise run by defeating FC Copenhagen 2-0 in Baku. Goals from Abdellah Zoubir and Emmanuel Addai gave the Azerbaijani side their second straight win, joining Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Inter Milan and Arsenal on six points. — AFP
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