Spurs lead English clubs’ scoring frenzy
Just when some of Europe’s top teams risked failing to advance from their Champions League groups, they steadied the ship.
Real Madrid and Tottenham both earned their first European wins of the season against overmatched opponents – but in very different style.
Real had to work hard to win 1-0 against a Galatasaray team with its own problems, while last season’s finalists Tottenham swept aside Red Star Belgrade 5-0.
That emphatic win was sorely needed for Tottenham, who had won just two of their last 11 games and conceded seven against Bayern Munich in their last Champions League outing. But Tottenham aren’t out of the woods yet.
‘‘We still know we’ve got a long way to go,’’ striker Harry Kane said. ‘‘We can hopefully build on this.’’
Juventus came within 13 minutes of a loss which could have endangered their hopes of reaching the knockout stage before Paulo Dybala scored twice to beat Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1.
Meanwhile, Paris SaintGermain,
Bayern Munich and Manchester City are all firmly on course to advance after recording their third wins to top their groups.
REAL SCRAPES A WIN Having won just one of their last four games, Real Madrid were looking to regain some momentum with a big victory over Turkish champions Galatasaray. They had to settle for a narrow win.
A deflected goal from Toni Kroos gave Real a 1-0 win but it was far from a sure thing.
Paris Saint-Germain are headed for qualification after a drama-free 5-0 win over Club Brugge, who drew 2-2 with Madrid in the previous round.
PSG only had a 1-0 lead with a half-hour remaining before substitute Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick to turn it into a rout. SPURS STIRRING
After being humiliated 7-2 by Bayern in their last game, Tottenham responded with a big win of their own.
While Red Star were hardly of Bayern’s calibre, scoring five goals for the first time since January could be a solid morale booster for Tottenham.
Son Heung-min and Kane scored two goals each, while Erik Lamela marked his 200th appearance for Tottenham with a goal and two assists.
Bayern briefly risked dropping Champions League points for the first time this campaign, but two goals from Robert Lewandowski helped them recover from 1-0 down against Olympiacos to win 3-2.
CITY SLICK IN WIN Things are going far from smoothly for English clubs this season in the Champions League
– except for Manchester City.
The Premier League champions are cruising in first place in Group C after earning their third win in emphatic style with a 5-1 demolition of Atalanta. The other three English clubs in the Champions League – Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool – have all taken losses so far.
Ruslan Malinovskyi gave Atalanta the lead from the penalty spot, but that lasted just six minutes before Sergio Aguero levelled with the first of his two goals. Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick inside 11 minutes in the second half.
Atalanta have lost all three of their games in their debut Champions League campaign but can still qualify if they can beat Shakhtar and Dinamo Zagreb in the second half of the group stage campaign.
The Ukrainian and Croatian clubs played out a 2-2 draw which meant neither took full advantage of Atalanta’s struggles in the fight for second place.