Paris Saint-Germain picked up an important three points at Old Trafford to set up a crazy Matchday 6 in Group H.
Neymar led the way with a brace while Marquinhos scored the winning goal as PSG downed Manchester United 3-1 on Wednesday night. The victory now sees the Ligue 1 side tied with Man United and RB Leipzig with nine points apiece.
The Brazilian needed only six minutes to break the deadlock after pouncing on a blocked shot. Kylian Mbappe’s previous effort was blocked, but Neymar raced up to beat David De Gea for the opening goal.
Marcus Rashford continued his strong tournament by equalizing in the 32nd minute for the Red Devils. The England international was set up by Aaron Wan-Bissaka after Anthony Martial’s effort was saved by Keylor Navas.
Minutes after Edinson Cavani’s chip rattled the crossbar, PSG took the lead for good with the Uruguayan at fault defensively. Cavani played onside Marquinhos, who tapped home past De Geta for the eventual winning goal.
Frustration boiled over for Red Devils midfielder Fred after his needless lounging tackle on Ander Herrera saw him sent off for a second yellow card offense. PSG would ice the result in stoppage time as Neymar finished off Rafinha’s pass into the bottom corner for a 3-1 victory.
PSG will host eliminated Istanbul Basaksehir on Matchday 6 while Manchester United visits RB Leipzig.
Sevilla 0 – Chelsea 4
Chelsea clinched top spot in Group E on Matchday 5 with Olivier Giroud stealing the show for the Blues.
Giroud scored all four goals for Frank Lampard’s side in a 4-0 victory, one that will likely see Chelsea rest players next week. The Frenchman needed only eight minutes to give the Blues an early lead in Spain and kick off a historic day.
Kai Havertz sprung a counter attack before setting up Giroud in the eighth minute for a 1-0 Chelsea advantage.
A connection between Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic helped set up the second goal for Chelsea, with the Croatian feeding Giroud. Giroud chipped past Alfonso Pastor to double his tally in the 54th minute.
Giroud capped off the perfect hat trick by heading home N’Golo Kante’s cross in the 74th minute before bagging his fourth of the night, this time from the penalty spot after winning a foul in the box. His confident strike into the top-right corner sealed the victory for Chelsea, who rebound from a scoreless draw with Tottenham last weekend.
Borussia Dortmund 1 – Lazio 1
Group F will also see drama on Matchday 6 with Lazio fighting back to share the spoils from Signal Iduna Park.
Former Borussia Dortmund loanee Ciro Immobile scored a 67th minute penalty kick to earn Lazio a 1-1 draw. The Italian benefitted from a clumsy challenge by substitute Nico Schulz to tie things up after the hour mark.
Schulz hacked down Sergej Milinkovic-Savic just inside of the box, allowing Immobile to slot home into the left corner.
Raphael Guerreiro had opened the scoring in the 44th minute after Dortmund took advantage of a poor pass out by veteran keeper Pepe Reina. After several 1-2’s, Thorgan Hazard connected with Guerreiro, before the Portuguese full back slotted home.
Roman Burki made five saves to earn Dortmund a draw, good enough to clinch a spot into the Round of 16. Lazio stays in second place for now, but will face third place Club Brugge on Matchday 6 knowing a win or draw will be good enough to advance.
Here’s all of Wednesday’s UCL results:
Krasnodar 1 – Rennes 0
Sevilla 0 – Chelsea 4
Borussia Dortmund 1 – Lazio 1
Club Brugge 3 – Zenit St. Petersburg 0
Ferencvaros 0 – Barcelona 3
Juventus 3 – Dynamo Kyiv 0
Istanbul Basaksehir 3 – RB Leipzig 4
Manchester United 1 – Paris Saint-Germain 3
I hope another article is coming about all the Americans who played. Surely some mention should be made when 6 different players all played on top clubs. And 2 Americans at one point played for Barcelona. This really must be historic for US soccer.