Erling Haaland’s magnificent strike capped a dramatic Manchester City comeback and condemned former club Borussia Dortmund to a painful Champions League defeat at Etihad Stadium.
City struggled against a composed Dortmund, who took the lead when the outstanding Jude Bellingham glanced home Marco Reus’ cross after 56 minutes, reports the BBC.
Pep Guardiola’s side toiled in search of inspiration and found the equaliser with 10 minutes left when defender John Stones fired a powerful shot past Dortmund keeper Alexander Meyer.
Inevitably, it was left to Haaland to produce a truly special moment four minutes later, showing outstanding athleticism to soar through the air and score from Joao Cancelo’s cross.
At Stamford Bridge, Graham Potter began his Chelsea reign with a draw against RB Salzburg, leaving his side with an uphill task to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages.
In his first game as manager, the former Brighton boss picked Raheem Sterling as an advanced wing-back but saw the gamble pay off when the forward curled into the bottom corner shortly after the break.
It was a much-improved performance from Chelsea’s defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Group E game last week, which spelled the end for former manager Thomas Tuchel.
But Matthias Jaissle’s well-drilled Austrian side got an equaliser on 75 minutes when Thiago Silva missed a tackle, allowing Noah Okafor to clip in Junior Adamu’s low cross.
That goal highlighted the risks involved in Potter’s positive approach, with Sterling and Marc Cucurella caught out of position. But the hosts could have earned victory when Reece James fired over from a free-kick and substitute Hakim Ziyech almost headed in at the back post.
Following AC Milan’s earlier 3-1 win over Zagreb, Chelsea sit bottom of Group E after two games with the Serie A champions up next at Stamford Bridge on October 5.
And in an early kick off, Celtic endured a frustrating night in Warsaw as a resolute Shakhtar Donetsk side held them in a Champions League draw.
A deflected Reo Hatate effort had the dominant Scots deservedly ahead after just 10 minutes.
But a blistering run and finish from Mykhaylo Mudryk levelled the tie before the break.
Celtic spurned several chances to take the win in the second half, with Giorgos Giakoumakis blazing over late on.
After losing 3-0 to Real Madrid in their opener last week in Glasgow, and drawing here, Celtic’s tough start continues with a trip to Germany to face RB Leipzig in three weeks’ time.
RESULTS
AC Milan 3 – 1 Dinamo Zagreb
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 – 1 Celtic
Rangers 0 – 3 Napoli
Chelsea 1 – 1 RB Salzburg
Real Madrid 2 – 0 RB Leipzig
FC Copenhagen 0 – 0 Sevilla
Man City 2 – 1 B Dortmund
Juventus 1 – 2 Benfica
Maccabi Haifa 1 – 3 PSG
