Agence France Press
Paris, Oct 1: The two Manchester clubs enjoyed victories in a happier night for England in matches of the Champions League played Wednesday, but then, not for the first time, Cristiano Ronaldo hogged all the limelight.
Ronaldo scored his 500th career goal and then equalled Raul’s club record tally of 323 goals for Real Madrid as the Spaniards won 2-0 against Malmo in Sweden.
Mateo Kovacic and Isco combined to set up Ronaldo for the opener, his 500th career goal in 753 games, in the first half of Real Madrid’s clash in Group A. The hosts had Yoshimar Yotun sent off before Ronaldo made sure of the win at the death, and equalled Raul’s tally with another strike.
In spite of winning their games, both Manchester United and City were made to work hard for 2-1 wins against German clubs Wolfsburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach respectively.
Both Manchester sides were looking to bounce back from defeats in their opening Champions League group games two weeks ago and United got their campaign back on track in Group B, although only after falling behind.
Daniel Caligiuri put Wolfsburg in front after just five minutes at Old Trafford, but Juan Mata won and converted a penalty to pull United level before the break, and the Spaniard then produced a superb flick to set up Chris Smalling, who scored the winner early in the second half.
“It was very difficult because they scored so early,” United manager Louis van Gaal told ‘BT Sport’. “Then we did very well. We created a lot of chances. But we don’t finish it and it was a lucky penalty, I think. Our play must improve in the second half.”
The Premier League leaders now find themselves in a four-way tie on three points in Group B after CSKA Moscow defeated PSV Eindhoven 3-2 at home.
Meanwhile, City had Sergio Aguero to thank for winning and then scoring a last-gasp penalty as they beat Gladbach 2-1 at Borussia-Park in their Group D encounter, securing a precious victory after they lost at home to Juventus in their first outing.
The Bundesliga side however, was guilty of missing a penalty when Raffael’s kick was saved Joe Hart. They did go in front through Lars Stindl nine minutes after the restart, but City equalised when a Nicolas Otamendi shot took a decisive deflection off Andreas Christensen before Aguero’s heroics.
It is Juventus who top the section, though, after Alvaro Morata and Simone Zaza netted to clinch a merited 2-0 win over Sevilla in Turin.
Meanwhile, Portuguese champions Benfica took control of Group C after coming from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1. It was the first defeat for the Madrid side at home after seven games.
At a glance
Manchester United 2 Wolfsburg 1
Manchester City 2 Moenchengladbach 1
Real Madrid 2 Malmo 0
Benfica 2 Atletico Madrid 1
CSK Moscow 3 PSV Eindhoven 2
Juventus 2 Sevilla 0
