Matchday #1 of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League group stage continued on Wednesday with 16 more in action. The featured match of the day came from Wembley Stadium as Tottenham welcomed Borussia Dortmund to town. Also, Liverpool welcomed Sevilla to Merseyside for another tasty fixture.
Elsewhere, Manchester City faced a trip to the Netherlands while Real Madrid hosted Apoel Nicosia. RB Leipzig welcomed AS Monaco to Germany, while Napoli faced a tough test in Ukraine.
Here’s a rundown of the day’s action in Europe’s top club competition:
Tottenham Hotspur 3 – Borussia Dortmund 1
Tottenham used a strong performance from Harry Kane to defeat Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. Son Heung-Min opened the scoring in the fourth minute from a left-footed effort. Kane was credited with the assist on the goal. Dortmund drew level quickly however as Andriy Yarmolenko scored from a long-range effort in the 11th-minute. Kane’s put Spurs back in front in the 15th-minute from a left-footed effort. The England international added to the lead in the second-half after he finished off Christian Eriksen’s assist. Jan Vertonghen was sent off in stoppage time, but Spurs hung on for three points. Dortmund finished the match with only two shots on goal, while Spurs had four.
Liverpool 2 – Sevilla 2
In a thrilling match at Anfield, Liverpool and Sevilla played out a 2-2 draw. After going down early 1-0, the Reds faught back in the first half. Roberto Firmino made it 1-1 in the 21st-minute before Mohamed Salah rifled home from long-range in the 37th-minute. Firmino missed the chance to add to the lead, striking the post from a penalty kick in the 42nd-minute. Joaquin Correa scored an equalizer for Sevilla in the 72nd-minute from inside the box. Sevilla’s Sergio Rico made five saves in the draw, while Liverpool will look at Wednesday’s match as a missed opportunity.
Here’s all of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League results:
Feyenoord 0 – Manchester City 4
Real Madrid 3 – Apoel Nicosia 0
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 – Napoli 1
RB Leipzig 1 – AS Monaco 1
NK Maribor 1 – Spartak Moscow 1
FC Porto 1 – Besiktas 3
It was frustrating to watch the highlights replay of the Borussia Dortmund 3-1 defeat to Tottenham. On top of the 2 disallowed (legal) goals scored by Dortmund, the Dortmund goalie needed to watch the game film of his own positioning. Both the first and second goal Dortmund conceded, the goalie was repeatedly beaten to the near post by a shot when Son & Kane had only a very narrow angle to shoot at both times; however, both shots went in. I would have had given the goalie the benefit of doubt if the shots went in at the far post.
Dortmund looked awfully good for losing 3-1. And they had a goal from Aubemuyang (however you spell it) called offsides when he wasn’t. A fun game to watch with a lot of back and forth action.
Pulisic also had one called back at the end of the first half for offside, even though he wasn’t offside. Also, Kane should have been whistled for a foul on his first goal.