On a high again
Real striker marks milestone, Kane bags another hattrick
PARIS: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice on his 400th Real Madrid appearance as the Champions League holders defeated Borussia Dortmund 31, while Harry Kane grabbed a hattrick in Tottenham Hotspur’s 30 win at APOEL Nicosia.
Gareth Bale struck an exquisite volley as the record 12time European champions secured an 18thminute lead at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday, with the Welshman supplying Ronaldo for Real’s second just after halftime.
PierreEmerick Aubameyang poked in Gonzalo Castro’s cross to give Dortmund hope, but Ronaldo rifled past Roman Burki to cement a second straight win for Real in Group H and leave the Germans still without a point.
It was the first time Dortmund have lost at home to Real in seven European games while holders Real have now scored in 38 successive Champions League games.
Ronaldo, without a goal in his last two outings following his return from a fivematch domestic ban, took his Real haul to 411 on what was also his 150th career appearance in Europe.
“I’m delighted for Ronaldo and Bale,” said Real coach Zinedine Zidane. “It is difficult to play in this stadium, we have never won here, so this victory was important to us, and the whole game was good for us from start to finish.”
England striker Kane notched his sixth hattrick of the year – and made it 11 goals for club and country in September – as Spurs backed up their opening victory over Dortmund with a comfortable win in Cyprus.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side survived an early scare when Igor De Camargo rattled the crossbar, but Kane’s clinical finish six minutes before the interval settled the visitors down.
Kane converted his second on 62 minutes and sealed his treble with a terrific header five minutes later to leave Spurs level on six points alongside Real ahead of their doublehead er with Zidane’s team.
“There were some good performances from players who are not regulars and a hattrick for Harry Kane, it was a fantastic performance,” said Pochettino.
Kevin De Bruyne curled in a sublime 25yard strike as Manchester City overcame spirited resistance from Shakhtar Donetsk, with Raheem Sterling completing a 20 victory at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola’s men top Group F after backtoback wins to start the campaign, and the English Premier League leaders could even afford a missed penalty from Sergio Aguero whose effort was turned away by Andriy Pyatov.
Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon hit the target as Napoli registered their first win by beating a hapless Feyenoord 31 in Italy.
Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina kept out Jens Toornstra’s secondhalf penalty, as Sofyan Amrabat’s stoppagetime goal was scant consolation for the Dutch champions who remain pointless.
Liverpool were held to a 11 draw away to Spartak Moscow despite a sparkling strike from Philippe Coutinho.
Coutinho linked up superbly with Sadio Mane to cancel out Fernando’s freekick in the 31st minute, but Liverpool were unable to claim a winner as they recorded a second straight draw in Group E.
“In the Champions League group stage, the only target is to go through to the next round. That’s now possible for us. There were a lot of good things tonight,” said a positivethinking Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp.
Wissam Ben Yedder fuelled Sevilla to a 30 victory over Maribor of Slovenia.
Joaquin Correa’s dazzling run left the French striker with a simple tapin for the opening goal after 27 minutes in Spain.
Ben Yedder then tucked away a second before the break and rounded out his hattrick from the penalty spot late on as Sevilla moved top of the section on four points.
Porto stunned French champions Monaco with a 30 win in the principality in a repeat outcome of the 2004 final.
Vincent Aboubakar marked his return from suspension with goals in either half before Miguel Layun pounced on some slapstick defending in the closing moments as Porto bounced back from a home loss to Besiktas.
The Turkish champions top Group G with maximum points following a 20 success at home to newcomers RB Leipzig despite an 11minute stoppage for floodlight failure in Istanbul.
Ryan Babel slotted home after fine work from Cenk Tosun and Talisca headed in a sublime cross from Ricardo Quaresma as Besiktas picked up their first win at home in the competition since November 2007. — AFP