ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Harry Kane scored a crucial goal to help Bayern Munich earn its 16th straight win in the group stage of the Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Galatasaray on Tuesday.
Kane made little impact until late in the second half but he was there when needed to score the team’s second goal. The England captain first tried a flashy backheel off Jamal Musiala’s low cross but the ball hit defender Sacha Boey. It then bounced favourably for Kane to score with his second effort in the 73rd minute.
Soon after, Musiala scored the third to take the game out of Galatasaray’s reach.
Kingsley Coman had scored early for Bayern but the German team was under pressure from Galatasaray for much of the game. The Turkish team had more shots _ 20 to 14_ while Bayern was mostly a threat on the counter until the goals from Kane and Musiala turned the game around.
Bayern leads Group A with a perfect nine points at the halfway stage and hasn’t dropped a point in group play since 2020. Bayern has gone 37 games unbeaten since its loss in the group stage in 2017. Just like the 2-1 win over Copenhagen in Bayern’s last Champions League game, the German champions had to dig deep for a win in an away game where they were the favourites.
REAL MADRID 2, BRAGA 1
BRAGA, Portugal (AP) — Led by Jude Bellingham yet again, Real Madrid defeated Braga 2-1 on Tuesday to keep a perfect record in the Champions League and move closer to securing a spot in the knockout stage.
Bellingham scored his 11th goal in 12 matches since joining Madrid to help the 14-time European champion earn the away victory and strengthen its lead in Group C. Madrid has nine points from three matches, three points more than Napoli, which won 1-0 at winless Union Berlin. Braga stayed in third place with three points.
Rodrygo also scored for Madrid, which is trying to make it to the knockout rounds for the 28th consecutive time. Braga has never advanced past the group stage. The Portuguese team is making its third Champions League appearance and first in 11 seasons.
Rodrygo put Madrid ahead in the 16th minute with a shot from inside the area after a run by Vinicius Junior down the left flank, and Bellingham added to the lead in the 61st with a low shot into the far corner after another assist by Vinicius.
MANCHESTER UNITED 1, FC COPENHAGEN 0
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Harry Maguire scored a 72nd-minute goal and Andre Onana saved a penalty off the last kick of the game as Manchester United earned a crucial 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen to ignite its qualification hopes in the Champions League on Tuesday.
There were boos inside Old Trafford at halftime of the first match at the stadium since the death of Bobby Charlton on Saturday, with United’s players unable to use emotions stirred by the memory of the club great to make any headway against the group outsiders from Denmark.
The jeers turned to cheers for Maguire when the oft-maligned centre-back headed home a cross from substitute Christian Eriksen.
Onana, another player under pressure in the early stage of this season, preserved the win by clawing away Jordan Larsson’s penalty in the seventh minute of stoppage time in a dramatic finish to an emotional evening.
After back-to-back losses to open Group A, this was a huge win for Erik ten Hag’s team ahead of the return match against Copenhagen in two weeks.
NAPOLI 1, UNION BERLIN 0
BERLIN (AP) — Giacomo Raspadori scored the only goal of the game as Napoli ground down defence-first Union Berlin to win 1-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Napoli hadn’t had a shot on target all game before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia unlocked the deep, narrow defence of Union with a dribble down the left side to the touchline, where he cut the ball back for Raspadori to score in the 65th minute.
Napoli is second in Group C behind Real Madrid, which won 2-1 at Braga in Tuesday’s other game. It was Napoli’s second win in all competitions after back-to-back losses to Madrid and Fiorentina before the international break. Union is last in the group with no points.
Defeat further deepened the gloom around Union, which has lost nine games in a row in all competitions as its first-ever Champions League campaign has turned sour, with the team also close to the Bundesliga relegation zone. The team’s most notable off-season signing, defender Leonardo Bonucci, was an unused substitute after a run of poor form.
INTER MILAN 2, SALZBURG 1
Surprise starter Alexis Sanchez set Inter Milan on its way to a 2-1 victory over Salzburg on Tuesday to boost the Nerazzurri’s chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages.
Sanchez scored in the 19th minute for the veteran forward’s first goal since returning to the club in the offseason. Oscar Gloukh briefly levelled for Salzburg but Hakan Calhanoglu scored what proved to be the winner from the penalty spot in the 64th minute.
That sent Inter provisionally atop Group C, three points clear of Real Sociedad, which was playing Benfica later. Salzburg is four points behind Inter.
Coach Simone Inzaghi surprisingly dropped Marcus Thuram — who has been a revelation this season — to the bench in favour of Sanchez.
It was a rare opportunity for the Chile forward, who had only started one of Inter’s 10 previous matches this season, and he proved it was the right decision when he gave the Nerazzurri the lead.
REAL SOCIEDAD 1, BENFICA 0
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Brais Mendez scored again as Real Sociedad beat Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon on Tuesday to hand the Portuguese champion its third straight defeat in its Champions League group.
Ander Barrenetxea set up the midfielder in the 63rd minute to tap in the winner. It was a deserved goal for the Spanish visitors who were in control throughout of the Group D game.
Mendez scored in a 1-1 draw against Inter Milan and in a 2-0 victory at Salzburg in the previous group games.
“I think we were the better side in everything tonight,” Sociedad forward Takefusa Kubo told Movistar. “We can’t be too comfortable yet but if we play as we did tonight at home against the same opponent, then I think we will qualify.”
The visitors put Benfica under pressure though wasted several chances, while both teams had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half.
LENS 1, PSV EINDHOVEN 1
LENS, France (AP) — Forward Elye Wahi salvaged a 1-1 draw for Lens against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday in a disappointing result for the French team after its surprise win over Arsenal in the previous round of games.
Przemyslaw Frankowski provided a cross for Wahi to volley in an equalizer in the 65th minute of the Group B game.
Johan Bakayoko had put the Dutch visitors ahead. The 20-year-old Belgian forward broke the deadlock nine minutes into the second half with an angled attempt inside the far post for his first Champions League goal.
In the first half, PSV survived initial pressure from Lens before coming close when forward Hirving Lozano hit the post of Brice Samba’s goal with another angled shot.
Lens extended its unbeaten Champions League streak to three, with a win and two draws.
ARSENAL 2, SEVILLA 1
SEVILLE, Spain (AP) — Gabriel Jesus set up one goal with a brilliant piece of skill before scoring a stunning strike himself to lead Arsenal to a 2-1 win over Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The Brazil striker’s match ended when he hobbled off with a hamstring injury in the 81st minute but he’d done plenty more damage before that at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
Jesus seems to save his best scoring form for the Champions League, having netted 23 goals in 41 appearances in Europe’s elite club competition.
It was an assist that stood out in the first half as he produced a Cruyff turn inside Arsenal’s half before sliding a pass through to Gabriel Martinelli, who surged through a gaping hole in the defence, rounded the goalkeeper and converted into an empty net in the third minute of stoppage time.
Jesus’ goal was a solo effort as he moved in off the left wing, got the ball onto his right foot and curled a finish past goalkeeper Orjan Nyland in the 53rd.