Salah scores brace as Liverpool edge 10-man Atlético in ‘thriller’
Real, City grab five goals each; Ajax rout Dortmund
MADRID, Oct 20, (AP): After a frustrating end to Antoine Griezmann’s night with Atlético Madrid, Mohamed Salah came through for Liverpool in a Champions League thriller.
Salah scored twice as Liverpool took advantage of Griezmann’s red card to beat Atlético 3-2 and stay perfect after three matches in the European competition.
Griezmann had already scored twice to help Atlético recover from a poor start, but then he was sent off with a straight red card early in the second half for hitting Roberto Firmino’s head with his foot while trying to reach for the ball.
Liverpool capitalized on the advantage with Salah scoring the winner from a penalty kick in the 78th minute. The Egypt forward has scored in nine straight games for Liverpool in all competitions, becoming the first player to do that in the club’s 129-year history.
Atlético had a penalty a few minutes after Liverpool’s third goal but it was reversed after video review.
Naby Keita also scored for Liverpool in the first half as Liverpool took a 2-0 lead as early as the 13th minute at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
The result left Liverpool at the top of Group B with nine points from three matches, five points more than Atlético. Porto, which beat AC Milan 1-0 at home in the other group match, are level with the Spanish champions. Milan stayed on zero points.
Atlético next visit Liverpool, while Milan host Porto.
It was the first meeting between Atlético and Liverpool since the Spanish side eliminated then defending European champions Liverpool in the round of 16 of the 2019-20 season. Liverpool had been winless against Atlético in four Champions League matches.
There was a goal rush in the Champions League on Tuesday and it was hardly a surprise to see Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah among the scorers.
By converting coolly taken penal
ties late in their games, Messi and Salah sealed 3-2 wins for Paris SaintGermain and Liverpool, respectively, on a chaotic night when 35 goals were scored across eight group matches - at an average of nearly 4.4 goals.
Real Madrid and Manchester City grabbed five goals each away from home. Ajax produced perhaps the best performance of the lot in overwhelming Borussia Dortmund 4-0, with Sebastien Haller - the competition’s surprise leading scorer - netting his sixth goal of the group stage in just three rounds of games.
Messi is saving his goals for the Champions League in his first season at PSG. The Argentina star rescued the French club in their 3-2 win over Leipzig, equalizing in the 67th and then producing a cheeky “Panenka” penalty down the middle to complete PSG’s comeback at the Parc des Princes and move onto 123 career goals in the Champions League - second only to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 137.
Messi, whose only other goal for
PSG came in a Champions League win over Man City last month, even passed up the opportunity for a hat trick when
PSG were awarded another penalty in stoppage time. Mbappe took it instead - and powered it over the crossbar.
A typically bold Leipzig team dominated PSG for long spells, only to be hurt by one of the game’s all-time greats. It was 34th time that Messi scored two or more goals in a Champions League game.
Mbappe broke clear to score an opening goal that was canceled out by Andre Silva before Nordi Mukiele volleyed home in the 57th.
Messi then stroked in a square ball from Mbappe after Leipzig lost possession while the same pair combined for the winner, with Mbappe adjudged to have been pushed for the penalty.
Mbappe pointed straight at Messi to tell him he could take the spot kick and the Argentina captain made no mistake to keep PSG in first place, a point above City.
Two of world soccer’s best young players inspired the heavy wins for Madrid and Man City.
Vinicius Junior, a 21-year-old Brazilian, scored two goals - including one from a wonderful, slaloming solo run - and an assist in Madrid’s 5-0 win at
Shakhtar Donetsk. Rodrygo and Karim Benzema, with his 73rd Champions League goal, completed the rout that started with an own-goal by Shakhtar captain Sergiy Kryvtsov in the 37th.
Phil Foden, another 21-year-old forward, might not have scored in City’s 5-1 win at Club Brugge, but he was behind much of the team’s best work, including a sumptuous pass from deep to set up Joao Cancelo for the opener.
Riyad Mahrez had two goals, including a penalty, Kyle Walker ran onto Kevin De Bruyne’s pass to score the fourth and 19-year-old substitute Cole Palmer added the fifth two minutes after coming on for his debut in the competition.
There were mixed fortunes for the Milan clubs.
Inter beat Moldovan upstarts Sheriff 3-1 for their first win and goals of the group stage, lifting the Italian champions to within two points of the lead in Group D. Edin Džeko, Arturo Vidal and Stefan de Vrij scored for Inter at the San Siro.