UCL: Liverpool Routs Maribor; Man City Edges Napoli; Real Madrid, Tottenham Draw
The Champions League group stage hit its halfway point for half of the teams in the field on Tuesday, with Matchday 3 featuring some scintillating matchups and some eye-opening results.
Tottenham went to Real Madrid and earned a 1-1 draw, with Hugo Lloris coming up big in goal. Spurs' Premier League mates Liverpool and Manchester City were big winners Tuesday, with the former rolling to a 7-0 thrashing vs. Maribor, while the latter held off high-powered Napoli. The big surprise of the day happened in Cyprus, where Borussia Dortmund had to fight for a mere draw vs. APOEL, and though it didn't lose ground on Group H-leading Real Madrid and Tottenham, it missed a golden opportunity to make up some.
Elsewhere, Besiktas stayed perfect, coming from behind to win at Monaco, while in the other game in that group, RB Leipzig held off Porto in a five-goal thriller.
Here are the results for the day:
Spartak Moscow 5, Sevilla 1
Maribor 0, Liverpool 7
Manchester City 2 Napoli 1
Feyenoord 1, Shakhtar Donetsk 2
Monaco 1, Besiktas 2
RB Leipzig 3, Porto 2
Real Madrid 1, Tottenham 1
APOEL 1, Borussia Dortmund 1
And here's how the day played out across the competition.
LIVERPOOL SUPPLIES THE EXCLAMATION POINT
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Trent Alexander-Arnold put the finishing touches on Liverpool's thrashing of Maribor, scoring the Reds' sixth and seventh of the day to make it 7-0 in Slovenia. The result, coupled with Spartak Moscow's result vs. Sevilla, will shoot Liverpool to the top of the group.
NAPOLI PULLS ONE BACK
Given the gift of a second penalty, Napoli happily took advantage, with Amadou Diawara beating Ederson from the spot to make it 2-1 at the Etihad in the 73rd minute.
APOEL STUNS DORTMUND–FOR A MOMENT
Dortmund figured it'd get back on track in the Champions League at lowly APOEL, but the Cypriot side has other ideas. Mickael Pote's goal just after the hour mark put Dortmund stunningly behind 1-0 and in need of a change in fortune–and fast. That came from its captain, as Sokratis Papastathopoulos finished off a pass from Mario Gotze five minutes later to make it 1-1.
SPARTAK PULLS AWAY
Spartak Moscow took another lead on Sevilla after conceding the equalizer, with Lorenzo Melgarejo scoring the go-ahead goal off Quincy Promes's assist in the 58th minute. It extended that lead to 3-1 soon after, with Denis Glushakov doing the honors and coming up with the vital insurance goal.
Luiz Adriano netted the fourth in the 74th minute, making it 4-1 and adding to the Russian champions' statement, which comes on the heels of drawing Liverpool on Matchday 2.
LLORIS ROBS BENZEMA
Real Madrid looked like it would take a 2-1 lead in the second half, with Karim Benzema having a point-blank chance, but Hugo Lloris came to the rescue, with a full-extension kick save on the goal line. Just tremendous.
BESIKTAS TAKES ITS FIRST LEAD
Cenk Tosun scored his second of the day, giving Besiktas a 2-1 lead in the 54th minute at Monaco and putting the Turkish club in line for its third win in as many matches.
BERNARD SENDS SHAKHTAR AHEAD
Bernard scored for a second time in response to Feyenoord's opener, giving Shakhtar Donetsk its first lead of the day, a 2-1 advantage.
FIRMINO MAKES IT HIGH FIVE FOR LIVERPOOL
Three points are going Liverpool's way. Roberto Firmino struck for his second of the day with a glancing header, making it 5-0 at Maribor.
RONALDO PK BRINGS REAL MADRID LEVEL
Serge Aurier gifted Real Madrid an opportunity to equalize after fouling Toni Kroos with a rash challenge, and Cristiano Ronaldo obliged, beating Hugo Lloris from the spot just minutes before halftime to make it 1-1 in Madrid.
SALAH MAKES IT FOUR
Mohamed Salah, fresh off becoming Egypt's hero in World Cup qualifying, boosted his own stock with his second goal of the day, as both he and Roberto Firmino converged on a cross at the far post before the former tapped home to give Liverpool a 4-0 lead over Maribor.
EDERSON SAVES MERTENS'S PK
Ederson bailed out his teammate, Kyle Walker, saving a penalty kick from Dries Mertens after the England fullback committed the foul. The save preserved Man City's 2-0 lead.
GOALS GALORE IN LEIPZIG
RB Leipzig scored twice in quick succession to seemingly pull away from Porto, but Ivan Marcano pulled one back just before halftime, and the two sides went into the locker room with the hosts leading 3-2. The match also featured this sensational show of skill from Jean-Kevin Augustin.
MONACO, BESIKTAS GO BLOW FOR BLOW
Monaco is looking to give Besiktas its first setback of the competition, and was on its way after Radamel Falcao's opener at the half-hour mark. But the in-form Cenk Tosun answered four minutes later on a wonderful header, making it 1-1.
VARANE OWN GOAL GIVES SPURS LEAD
All eyes were on Harry Kane at the Bernabeu, where it's speculated that Real Madrid will make a massive offer for the Tottenham star, and he made an impact in the 28th minute. Serge Aurier crossed for Kane, whose run prompted Raphael Varane to inadvertently direct the ball into his own goal to give Spurs a 1-0 lead in the Spanish capital.
Real Madrid had wasted an earlier chance, after Cristiano Ronaldo's header clanged off the post and Karim Benzema pulled the rebound wide of an empty net.
SEVILLA RECOVERS AFTER EARLY CONCESSION
It's never easy going on the road, but Sevilla, which entered the day atop Group E, expected a simpler match at Spartak Moscow. It went down early as Quincy Promes scored in the 18th minute, but Simon Kjaer responded in the 30th off the corner kick to make it 1-1.
SALAH MAKES IT THREE
It certainly appears to be Liverpool's day. After setting up Roberto Firmino for the opener, Mohamed Salah makes it 3-0 for Liverpool–with Firmino returning the favor–within 20 minutes at Maribor.
RB LEIPZIG, PORTO EXCHANGE EARLY GOALS
Willi Orban scored in the eighth minute for host RB Leipzig, but Vincent Aboubakar answered 10 minutes later off a throw-in sequence, bringing Porto level at 1-1 in their anticipated Group G clash.
MAN CITY CAN'T BE STOPPED
Gabriel Jesus made it 2-0, finishing off a sensational ball from Kevin De Bruyne to double the Manchester City advantage over Napoli at the 13-minute mark.
COUTINHO DOUBLES THE LIVERPOOL LEAD
It's been all Liverpool in Slovenia, where Philippe Coutinho doubled the advantage for Jurgen Klopp's side, scoring for a fourth straight game.
STERLING SCORES FIRST VS. NAPOLI
Manchester City's sizzling form continued early vs. Napoli at the Etihad, where Raheem Sterling pounced on a blocked shot to score the opener for the Premier League side.
FEYENOORD HOLDS RARE ADVANTAGE, GIVES IT UP
Dutch champion Feyenoord has had a brutal start to the competition, losing its first two games to Man City and Napoli, but it got off to a good start against Shakhtar Donetsk, with Steven Berghuis scoring in the seventh minute. That didn't last all that long, though, with Bernard equalizing in the 24th minute.
FIRMINO GIVES LIVERPOOL EARLY LEAD
Roberto Firmino wasted no time, finishing off an early cross from Mohamed Salah on the counterattack to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute.
Here are the lineups for today's games:
Spartak Moscow vs. Sevilla
Maribor vs. Liverpool
Manchester City vs. Napoli
Feyenoord vs. Shakhtar Donetsk
Monaco vs. Besiktas
RB Leipzig vs. Porto
Real Madrid vs. Tottenham
APOEL vs. Borussia Dortmund
Matchday 3 concludes on Wednesday, with Chelsea-Roma highlighting the slate. PSG is also in action, at Anderlecht, while Jose Mourinho returns to Portugal as Manchester United meets Benfica.
