A new Sheriff in town: Tiraspol stuns Real with 2-1 win
MADRID: The start to life in the Champions League couldn’t have been much better for Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol. Sebastien Thill scored a 90th-minute winner as the newcomer stunned Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu here on Tuesday.
Thill netted with a powerful shot into the top corner from the edge of the area to give Sheriff its second consecutive victory in its debut Champions League campaign. It leads Group D with six points, three more than second-placed Madrid and five more than both Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan.
In the group’s other match on Tuesday, Inter drew 0-0 with Shakhtar in Ukraine. Sheriff had defeated Shakhtar 2-0 in its opener at home, while Real had won 1-0 at Inter. “For us, this is a dream come true to have won in Madrid,” Sheriff captain Frank Castaneda said.
The visitor had rarely threatened until opening the scoring after a breakaway in the 25th minute, with Jasurbek Yakhshiboev finding the far corner with a firm header past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Karim Benzema had made it 1-1 from the penalty spot in the 65th minute after a controversial foul call on Vinicius Junior.
The match referee initially let play continue, but awarded the spot-kick after checking the video review on the monitor.
Sheriff goalkeeper Giorgos Athanasiadis was named the player of the match for helping stop a Madrid attack that had more than 30 attempts.
Messi nets 1st PSG goal in 2-0 victory over City
Lionel Messi’s superb first goal for Paris Saint Germain was well worth the wait as his team beat Manchester City 2-0 in a Group A match in Paris.
Messi charged from midfield towards the penalty area in the 74th minute, opening up more space as Achraf Hakimi made a dummy run to his right. The 34-year-old received a clever flick from Kylian Mbappe before curling a fine strike into the top right corner.
It was his first goal for PSG in three starts and four games since a summer move from Barcelona. PSG started its dream attack of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, but it was midfielder Idrissa Gueye who opened the scoring in the eighth minute.