Reds end away jinx in Europe
Chelsea win at Ajax, trio set goals records
PARIS: Liverpool and Chelsea clinched impressive victories on the road in the Champions League on Wednesday as Lionel Messi, Dries Mertens and teenage sensation Erling Braut Haaland claimed impressive goalscoring landmarks.
Liverpool defeated Genk 4-1 as the defending champions won away in the group phase for the first time in two years while Chelsea won 1-0 at Ajax.
Elsewhere, Messi became the first player to score at least once in 15 successive Champions League seasons as Barcelona beat Slavia Prague 2-1.
Napoli defeated Salzburg 3-2 in a game which saw Mertens go past Diego Maradona’s 115-goals tally for the Italian club, while Haaland’s two strikes for the Austrians in the same game made him the first player to score six times in his first three Champions League games.
England international Alex OxladeChamberlain, who missed almost all of last season due to injury, opened the scoring in the second minute at the Luminus Arena and claimed Liverpool’s second just before the hour mark.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah then set up each other for late goals to wrap up the victory before substitute Stephen Odey pulled one back for Genk.
Liverpool have six points, one behind Napoli in Group E.
“It’s a special tournament to play in,” said Oxlade-Chamberlain, an unused substitute in last year’s final win.
Substitute Michy Batshuayi struck in the 86th minute and put Chelsea level on six points with last year’s semi-finalists Ajax at the top of Group H.
“It’s feels huge, which always scares me because there’s a lot to do. We’re entitled to be excited about the way we played tonight,” said manager Frank Lampard.
Jonathan Ikone’s stoppage-time goal gave Lille a 1-1 draw at home to Valencia for whom Denis Cheryshev had opened the scoring just after the hour mark. Valencia are third in the table, two points behind Ajax and Chelsea.
Barcelona stay top of Group F after a 2-1 win at Slavia Prague.
Messi opened the scoring after three minutes, becoming the first player to score in 15 consecutive Champions League campaigns.
Barca grabbed a second on 57 minutes when Slavia winger Peter Olayinka deflected a Luis Suarez close-range shot into his own net. Left-back Jan Boril scored for Slavia five minutes after half-time.
Barca are three points ahead of Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund after the Italians got the better of their German visitors 2-0 at the San Siro.