Game Recaps

DORTMUND, Germany — Borussia Dortmund needed a 78th-minute penalty from Jadon Sancho and a stoppage-time goal from Erling Haaland to beat visitors Zenit St Petersburg 2-0 in their Champions League Group F match on Wednesday.

The Germans, who lost their opener to Lazio, controlled the game from the start but carved out few chances before Vyacheslav Karavaev inexplicably wrestled Thorgan Hazard to the ground for Sancho to score from the spot.

Haaland added a second in stoppage time with a powerful run.

The introduction of Marcus Rashford in the 63rd minute turned a 1-0 Manchester United lead over RB Leipzig into a 5-0 bloodbath with the chivalrous young forward recording a hat trick over the course of an unplayable cameo. 

Lionel Messi has yet to score from open play this season, his only three goals coming from the penalty spot. At times his finishing makes it appear as though he could care less about scoring for the club that strong-armed him into staying in Barcelona colors this year.

But the Argentine can still strike the ball like few who have ever played the game. 

Christian Pulisic put on a display of modern footballing excellence (handball!) in Chelsea’s 4-0 Champions League win over Krasnodar on Wednesday. Chelsea’s one-goal advantage was under siege when Pulisic entered the match in the 71st minute, but the American quickly smashed a shot into Alyaksandr Martynovich’s arm for a penalty, whiffed on an overhead kick, provided a hockey assist on Hakim Ziyech’s goal and finally scored one of his own. 

It was 19 minutes of pure Pulisic Ball. 

Champions League Group B was an easy one to predict with LaLiga champion Real Madrid and Serie A runner-up Inter Milan joined by the difficult-to-spell sides of Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Mönchengladbach, but we’re two match days in and both Real and Inter have yet to win.

João Félix bagged a brace for Atletico Madrid as they survived a scare to complete a 3-2 Champions League Group A victory over Red Bull Salzburg and kick-start their European campaign at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium on Tuesday.

Marcos Llorente had put Atletico ahead in the first half, but goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Mergim Berisha swung the fixture in the favour of the visitors early in the second half.

It’s not getting any better than this for 19-year-old goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin and Shakhtar Donetsk — or is it?

Last Wednesday, Shakhtar travelled to the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano and pulled off an incredible 3-2 upset of 13-time European champion Real Madrid despite missing 10 players through a combination of injury and pandemic. That match marked a Champions League debut for Trubin, who recorded three saves.  

MOSCOW — Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich volleyed in a 79th-minute winner on Tuesday as they battled past hosts Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1 in their Champions League Group A match to extend their winning run in the competition to 13 consecutive games.

Leon Goretzka headed them in front in the 13th minute but they squandered a string of chances to double their lead and also hit the post before Anton Miranchuk punished their wastefulness following a quick break from Ze Luis.

Son Heung-min's prolific start to the season continued with his 76th minute header giving Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win at Burnley in the Premier League on Monday and moving Jose Mourinho's side up to fifth.

The South Korean was left unmarked at the back post to nod home his eighth league goal of the season after Harry Kane had flicked on an Erik Lamela corner to give Mourinho's side a third win in six games.

KANE SON

AC Milan and AS Roma drew 3-3 at the San Siro on Monday in a ridiculous match that included a brace for Zlatan Ibrahimović and a late Marash Kumbulla equalizer that only arrived after the 39-year-old Swede failed to clear a corner.

109 seconds into the match, Ibrahimović turned Rafael Leão’s beautiful cross beyond Antonio Mirante for an early lead. 

Rafael Leão to Zlatan Ibrahimovic!

Ibra is now joint-top scorer in Serie A pic.twitter.com/FwzDaB7VmJ