BARCELONA 2, SHAKHTAR DONETSK 1
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 on Wednesday to keep a perfect record and stay on course to advance to the knockout rounds of the Champions League after two straight group-stage eliminations.
Ferran Torres and Fermín López scored a goal each in the first half to help Barcelona secure its third straight victory in Group H. The Catalan club reached nine points, six more than both Shakhtar and Porto, which visits winless Antwerp in the other group match later Wednesday.
The victory kept Barcelona unbeaten in 13 matches overall this season, with 10 wins and three draws.
Shakhtar, in the debut of new coach Marino Pušić, was trying to win consecutive Champions League matches for the first time in more than five years.
Torres put Barcelona ahead in the 28th with a volley from inside the area after López’s shot hit the woodwork.
López added to the lead in the 36th after clearing a defender just outside the area and firing a right-footed shot into the top corner. The ball hit the post before finding the net.
Shakhtar, which won at Antwerp in the previous round, pulled one closer with Georgiy Sudakov in a breakaway in the 62nd in what was the first goal conceded by Barcelona in the Champions League this season.
The Catalan club stayed mostly in control through the end to secure the win, its fourth in the last five matches in all competitions.
FEYENOORD 3, LAZIO 1
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Back in the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in six seasons, Feyenoord is in position to progress to the knockout rounds.
Santiago Gimenez scored twice and Ramiz Zerrouki also found the target as the Dutch champions beat visiting Lazio 3-1 on Wednesday.
With six points, Feyenoord moved to the top of Group E for the moment, two points ahead of Atletico Madrid and Lazio. Celtic, which was hosting Atletico later, trails with zero points.
Minutes after having a goal waved off by video review for offside, Gimenez showed off true centre-forward form to put Feyenoord ahead just after the half-hour mark. The Argentine-born Mexico international used one arm to hold off his marker while turning and shooting from the center of the area.
Then in first-half added time, a curled effort from Zerrouki marked his first-ever goal for Feyenoord to double the lead.
Gimenez’s second came midway through the second half when he volleyed in a rebound.
Pedro pulled one back for Lazio with a penalty in the 83rd.
Lazio, which finished second to runaway champion Napoli in Serie A last season, will be looking to turn the result around when it hosts Feyenoord in two weeks.
MANCHESTER CITY 3, YOUNG BOYS 1
BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Erling Haaland ended his barren streak in the Champions League with two second-half goals to help Manchester City beat Young Boys 3-1 on Wednesday and earn a third straight win in its title defence.
Haaland hadn’t scored in his previous five matches in the competition, stretching back to last season’s semifinals in May, but he ended that improbable run by blasting a spot kick down the middle in the 67th to put City 2-1 ahead.
The Norway striker wrapped up the victory by curling a shot into the top corner with his weaker right foot in the 86th minute.
It’s now 37 goals in 33 Champions League games for the scoring phenom, who is now into double figures (11) for the season in all competitions as he looks to follow up a debut campaign for City when he netted 52 times.
Before his penalty, it had been a frustrating evening for Haaland and City — restricted to half-chances in a first half that ended goalless on the artificial pitch at Wankdorf Stadium.
A tap-in by Manuel Akanji eventually gave City the lead in the 48th, only for the titleholders to concede four minutes later when Meschack Elia ran in behind City’s defence and scooped a finish over the stranded Ederson.
ATLETICO MADRID 2, CELTIC 2
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Atletico Madrid missed a chance to take the outright lead of its group after a 2-2 draw at Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Antoine Griezmann and Álvaro Morata scored a goal in each half as Atletico twice came from behind to salvage the away draw. Celtic scored before halftime through Kyogo Furuhashi and Luis Palma.
Atletico played with 10 men from the 83rd minute as midfielder Rodrigo de Paul was sent off with a second yellow card for a hard sliding tackle.
Atletico reached five points in Group E. It’s one behind Feyenoord, which beat Lazio 3-1 in the other group game. Celtic stayed last with one point, three behind third-place Lazio.
LEIPZIG 3, RED STAR BELGRADE 1
LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) — Xavi Simons scored a spectacular first Champions League goal and set up another to propel Leipzig to a 3-1 win over Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday as the German team took a step closer to the knockout stages.
The 20-year-old Dutch midfielder on loan from Paris Saint-Germain assisted on David Raum’s opener in the 12th minute and curled a shot into the top-right corner from outside the box in the 59th.
Leipzig stays second in Group G, three points off leader Manchester City, but moves five points clear of third place after City won 3-1 against Swiss club Young Boys in the other game Wednesday.
Leipzig took the early lead by playing around Red Star’s narrow defence as Simons passed for the overlapping Raum to score with a powerful low shot. It was the left-back first career Champions League goal, as well.
Simons has flourished at Leipzig so far on loan from PSG and showed his skill with the second goal, cutting in toward the center from the left past Red Star midfielder Hwang In-beom before unleashing a curling shot from around 20 yards (18 meters) which left Glazer no chance. Simons has four goals and five assists in 13 games at Leipzig.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 1, NEWCASTLE 0
NEWCASTLE, England (AP) — Borussia Dortmund ignited its Champions League campaign by winning 1-0 at Newcastle on Wednesday to hand the Saudi-owned English team a first loss on its return to the competition after 20 years away.
Felix Nmecha turned in Nico Schlotterbeck’s cross in the 45th minute for what, surprisingly, was the only goal in an end-to-end encounter at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle came into the game on the back of four points from two group games, most recently a 4-1 thrashing of Paris Saint-Germain, but the top scorers in this season’s Premier League couldn’t find that clinical edge.
Newcastle did, though, hit the goal frame twice, including Anthony Gordon in stoppage time when his shot took a deflection and bounced onto the crossbar.
Dortmund survived for its first win in Group F and joined Newcastle on four points, two fewer than leader PSG.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 3, AC MILAN 0
PARIS (AP) — France forwards Kylian Mbappé and Randal Kolo Muani both scored as Paris Saint-Germain secured a 3-0 win against a lacklustre AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Teenage midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery set up two goals, including PSG’s third for South Korea winger Lee Kang-in near the end.
It was Lee’s first for the club and a welcome win for PSG after it was routed 4-1 at Newcastle in the previous round, while seven-time champion Milan still has not won or scored in Group F.
PSG leads with six points from three matches and Milan is last. In the other group game, Newcastle lost 1-0 at home to Borussia Dortmund.
Mbappé rifled a 32nd-minute shot past France goalkeeper Mike Maignan to give PSG the lead. Maignan was beaten again in the 53rd when Kolo Muani tapped into an empty net after Maignan saved France winger Ousmane Dembélé’s low shot following a short corner.
Mbappé’s next shot gave Maignan no chance, and the goal came following great work from the 17-year-old Zaïre-Emery.
He showed his strength breaking through midfield before picking out Mbappé, who junked right to put England defender Fikayo Tomori off balance before drilling a low shot into the left corner.
FC PORTO 4, ANTWERP 1
ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — Substitute forward Evanilson scored a hat trick as Porto enjoyed a second-half revival to beat Antwerp 4-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday and further reduce the Belgian club’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
Antwerp has now lost its three opening matches in Group H. Barcelona tops the standings with a perfect record of three wins and a three-point lead over Porto, with Shakhtar Donetsk in third place with three points.
Antwerp produced a gritty first-half display that was rewarded with a goal from Alhassan Yusuf. But their catastrophic start to the second half was too much to handle as they once again surrendered a lead.
Before Evanilson — who came on in the 44th minute — and Stephen Eustaquio turned things round for Porto, the hosts had won most of the duels in a close contest at Bosuilstadion.
Porto’s first clear-cut opportunity came in the 22nd after Yusuf gave the ball away and allowed the visitors to launch a swift counterattack. The slick passing move ended with a shot from Mehdi Taremi that was blocked in the box. Brazilian forward Galeno then missed the target after cutting inside following another counterattack as Porto grew into the game and became more dangerous.
But a poor clearance by the Porto defense in the 37th was enough for Anderlecht to take the lead as Yusuf unleashed a strike into the top right corner from Vincent Janssen’s deflected cross.
The teams had been back in action after halftime for less than a minute when Antwerp’s Arthur Vermeeren took unnecessary risks in his own half in trying to get past a pair of Porto players only to lose the ball. Taremi then rushed toward the Antwerp box and set up Evanilson, whose deflected shot ended in the back of the net.
Antwerp looked destabilized by the goal and Porto applied more pressure. The Portuguese dominance was rewarded by a goal from Eustaquio at the end of a well-built passing move in the 54th.
Antwerp captain Toby Alderweireld came close to an equalizer only for his header to hit the crossbar before Evanilson made it 3-1 with a fine volley from Pepe’s assist, and he then chipped over goalkeeper Jean Butez to complete his treble.