Champions League: Bayern and Gladbach hit six goals in away routs

Bayern Munich came from behind to crush RB Salzburg 6-2 with two goals from Robert Lewandowski, stretching their record winning run in the Champions League to 14 consecutive games.

The Bavarians, who have won five titles in 2020 including the Champions League, went behind after only four minutes when Mergim Berisha was left unmarked to beat Manuel Neuer. Bayern instantly bounced back and Serge Gnabry had his shot cleared off the line before their top scorer Lewandowski levelled with a 21st-minute penalty.

Salzburg defender Rasmus Kristensen then turned a Thomas Müller cross into his own net but Masaya Okugawa fired Salzburg level. Despite a string of chances for the home side, Bayern blazed to victory with four goals in the final 11 minutes. Jérôme Boateng powering in a header from Joshua Kimmich’s corner before Leroy Sané scored with a perfectly curled shot. Lewandowski headed his second goal and Lucas Hernandez drilled in a sixth in stoppage time to lift Bayern to nine points in Group A.

Atlético Madrid are second behind Bayern after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Lokomotiv Moscow. José Giménez fired Atlético ahead in the 18th minute with a fine header after an inch-perfect cross by Héctor Herrera. The home side levelled in the 25th after a lengthy VAR check deemed Herrera to have handled the ball in the penalty area and Anton Miranchuk sent Jan Oblak the wrong way with a perfect spot-kick. Guilherme then pulled off a string of superb saves to keep the Russian side in the hunt for a last-16 berth.

Alassane Pléa scored a hat-trick as Borussia Mönchengladbach crushed their hosts Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 to take over from them at the top of their group in the Champions League. Gladbach scored four in the first half, with two coming from the 27-year-old Pléa, to kill off the game and eventually earn one of the largest away wins of the competition. The Germans caught Shakhtar by surprise with a two-pass counterattack and Stefan Lainer finding space down the right to cut back for Pléa, who scored with a crisp finish. They doubled their lead when Christoph Kramer’s shot from outside the box took a deflection from Valeriy Bondar to send Anatoliy Trubin the wrong way. A Pléa missile put the game beyond the hosts before Ramy Bensebaini added a fourth a minute before the break. Lars Stindl made the most of a Trubin error to put his team 5-0 ahead in the 65th, before Pléa beat the offside trap to complete his hat-trick with a fine finish.

Ajax scored after 47 seconds as they shrugged off disrupted preparations to beat Denmark’s Midtjylland 2-1 away for their first win in Group D. Brazilian striker Antony opened the scoring inside the first minute with captain Dusan Tadic netting the other. Anders Dreyer netted the first goal for the Danish rookies in the group phase, but they remain bottom without any points. Ajax moved into second in the standings on four points.

Porto beat Marseille 3-0 to all but end the French side’s hopes of qualifying from Group C. Moussa Marega scored early for the Portugal champions, Sérgio Oliveira doubled the home side’s lead with a penalty, and Luiz Díaz completed the scoring. Dimitri Payet fluffed a penalty horribly over the bar as Marseille’s return to the Champions League after a seven-year absence continued to prove a nightmarish experience. The 1993 champions have now lost their first three matches in Group C and are yet to score a goal.

source: theguardian.com