London: Wednesday night turned out to be a memorable one for English clubs in the Champions League. First Liverpool defeated Slovenia’s Maribor 3-0 and then Sergio Aguero became the all-time top scorer for Manchester City in his side’s 4-2 triumph at Naples.
Aguero scored his 178th goal for City in an important city and after the game said that he would be giving away the jersey to his son Benjamin as a special memento. The popular Argentine was hailed as a ‘legend’ by teammates and former City greats after the game.
“He (Benhamin) texted me, saying ‘if you score, bring it (the shirt) to me’,” the 29-year-old said after going past the 177-goal landmark of Eric Brook that had lasted for 78 years.
One down to a Lorenzo Insigne goal, City hit back through headed goals from their centre-backs Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones either side of half time, before Jorginho checked their momentum from the penalty spot.
Aguero’s strike put City 3-2 ahead in the 69th minute of a remarkable game and although Raheem Sterling added a fourth in injury time, it was typical Aguero sharpness that broke Napoli and allowed Pep Guardiola’s side to become the first English team to win a European tie at the Italians’ San Paolo stadium fortress.
Meanwhile at Anfield, Liverpool worked patiently to finally break down the Maribor defence.
Maribor had learned their lesson after suffering an embarrassing 0-7 home defeat in Slovenia and defended in numbers, keeping a compact shape and allowing Liverpool plenty of possession but few chances.
Yet second half goals from Mohamed Salah, Emre Can and substitute Daniel Sturridge wrapped up the win and ensured Liverpool did not pay a heavy price for James Milner’s failure to score from the penalty spot in the first half.
Other results
Borussia Dortmund 1 APOEL Nicosia 1
Shakhtar Donetsk 3 Feynoord 1
Sevilla 2 Spartak Moscow 1
FC Porto 3 RB Leipzig 1
Agencies