PSG rolls over Anderlecht 4-0 to keep lead in Group B
● Messi nets 100th goal in Europe, Barca beats Olympiakos 3-1 ● Atletico in trouble after being held by Qarabag to 0-0 draw
Paris Saint-Germain needed less than three minutes to stamp its authority on its Champions League match against Anderlecht and coasted to a 4-0 victory over the Belgian champion.
Kylian Mbappe scored on a balmy night with a drive from a tight angle early on before setting up Edinson Cavani for a tap-in header in the 44th minute.
And after halftime, the world’s most expensive player, Neymar, also had his moment — sending a low free kick under the soaring defenders and past goalkeeper Matz Sels in the 66th. Angel Di Maria closed out the scoring in the 88th.
It left PSG with 12 goals for and none against and three victories atop Group B with 9 points.
Bayern Munich has six points, Celtic three and Anderlecht none.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid’s chances of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League for a fifth straight season were hit by a 0-0 draw at newcomer Qarabag on Wednesday, despite playing more than 15 minutes with an extra man.
Atletico, a finalist in 2014 and 2016, remains winless after three matches and is struggling in third place in Group C with just two points — two less than AS Roma and four behind leader Chelsea.
Yesterday’s match was marked by the disputed dismissal of Qarabag forward Dino Ndlovu, who was judged to have dived in the 75th minute, drawing his second yellow card of the night. Qarabag players appealed for a penalty after Ndlovu tried to get past Atletico defender Diego Godin inside the area.
There appeared to be contact between Ndlovu and Godin, but not as hard as the South African forward made it look as he fell to the ground.
Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal in European competition to lead 10-man Barcelona to a 3-1 victory at home to Olympiakos in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Messi hit the century mark in 122 European matches when he curled a free kick over the wall in the 61st minute. Goalkeeper Silvio Proto got a hand on the ball but couldn’t keep it out as Messi took his career tally in the Champions League to 97 goals.
After Barcelona had gone ahead thanks to an own goal by Dimitris Nikolaou in the 18th minute, the hosts were left a man down three minutes before halftime. Gerard Pique got a second booking for using his arm to steer the ball into the net. The strike was disallowed.
However, Barcelona continued to outclass Olympiakos despite playing with 10 men.
Messi drew a foul from Nikolaou near the edge of the area to set up his free kick. Messi’s strike gave him 18 goals in 17 matches for Barcelona and Argentina side this season.
Barcelona’s star provided the pass for left back Lucas Digne to score in the 64th when he dribbled around a defender before cutting the ball back through the area for the defender to drive it home.
Nikolaou scored Olympiakos’ consolation goal with a header from a corner in the 90th minute.