Triumphant return for Ronaldo
Juventus edge Manchester United and Real Madrid break their losing streak
CRISTIANO Ronaldo celebrated a winning return to Old Trafford as Juventus edged Manchester United 1-0, while holders Real Madrid defeated Viktoria Plzen 2-1 to ease the pressure on embattled coach Julen Lopetegui in Champions League action last night.
Manchester City enjoyed a 3-0 victory at Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayern Munich won 2-0 at AEK Athens and Edin Dzeko bagged a brace as Roma downed CSKA Moscow 3-0.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric scored twice and Brazilian Joelinton snatched a stoppage-time equaliser in a 3-3 draw at home to Olympique Lyon, Ajax also scored in stoppage time to beat Benfica 1-0, and Young Boys Berne drew 1-1 with Valencia.
After three straight defeats and no wins in five games in all competitions, Real Madrid made sure of three points against Plzen to move to six points in Group G.
Karim Benzema headed Real ahead in the 11th minute and Marcelo chipped a second in the 55th after a neat back heel from Gareth Bale. Plzen replied through Patrik Hrosovsky 11 minutes from time but it was no more than a consolation.
Roma are also on six points thanks to Dzeko’s goals against CSKA on the half hour and two minutes before halftime before the Bosnia-Herzegovina striker fed Cengiz Uender to volley in a third after the break.
At Old Trafford, Paulo Dybala’s 17th-minute strike for his fourth Champions League goal this season was reward for Juve’s first-half domination in Ronaldo’s return to his former hunting ground.
Ronaldo, who won the first of his five Champions League with United in 2008 before he moved to Real, had a fierce free-kick parried by David de Gea in the first half and was foiled again by the keeper after the break but could not add to his all-time best 120 Champions League goals.
United’s Paul Pogba hit the post against his former club but Juve did enough for a third straight win to go five points clear of United in Group H.
In Berne, Young Boys earned their first Champions League point and goal to leave Valencia still without a win in the group.
Michy Batshuayi in the 26th minute put the Spanish side ahead but Guillaume Hoarau scored from the penalty spot 10 minutes after the break for Young Boys, who had a Sekou Sanogo header hit the post two minutes from time.
In Group F, Manchester City advanced to six points thanks to a David Silva strike in the 30th minute, an Aymeric Laporte header from a corner four minutes later and a third from substitute Bernardo Silva in the 71st against Shakhtar.
Hoffenheim grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser as they shared six goals in a thriller with Lyon.
Bertrand Traore put the French side ahead in the 27th minute after Hoffenheim captain Kevin Vogt lost the ball outside his own penalty area from a short goal-kick by Oliver Baumann.
Kramaric levelled in the 33rd and put Hoffenheim ahead two minutes after the interval, but Lyon hit back when Tanguy Ndombele levelled from a narrow angle in the 59th and Memphis Depay was on target in the 67th.
Joelinton scored from close range to deny the French side at the end and earn a point for the Bundesliga side, who are still looking for a first win in the group, while Lyon move to five points, one behind City.
Bayern Munich enjoyed a 2-0 win at AEK Athens courtesy of goals from Javi Martinez and Robert Lewandowski within two minutes midway through the second half as Bayern moved to seven points from three games in Group E.
“We played a very good game and dominated the opponent,” Bayern coach Niko Kovac said.
“In Athens you just can’t win 4-0 or 5-0. We did not take advantage of our chances in the first half but the win was deserved, it was a very good performance.” | DPA/African News Agency (ANA)