In a major highlight from remaining 8 games of Match-day 2 on September 30, Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in his side’s away game against the Swedish side Malmo. The first half strike from the Portuguese took his career tally to 500 goals, while he drew level with ex-Real star Raul Gonzalez’s mark of 323 in equaling the Spanish club’s all-time goal-scoring record. In two other notable events, two well-known English Premier League teams from Manchester emerged winners. While Man-United defeated Wolfsburg at home, Manchester City won an away game against Borussia Monchengladbach. Wednesday also proved to be a day of 5 own goals, three of which came in the drawn game between Astana and Galatasaray.
In a palpable atmosphere at Malmo, the hosts fancied the idea of causing Champions League’s biggest upset and showed their intent in the very first minute of the match but Rosenberg was flagged off-side. However, Real Madrid soon took control and enhanced the ball possession percentage. In the 5th minute, Real’s Casemiro was thwarted by Malmo defenders and he couldn’t break through in their penalty area. His desperate long-distance attempt failed to find the target. After Ronaldo missed the target in the 21st minute, he came back 8 minutes later to complete his 500th career goal as a senior pro. From a lovely pass by Isco, Ronaldo converted the opportunity and Real Madrid went into a 1-0 lead. Karim Benzema could have doubled Real’s lead but his ambitious 30-yard floater sailed over the crossbar. Real Madrid had 72% of the ball possession as the first half ended.
The second half began with Malmo’s Djurdjic’s ambitious but unsuccessful attempt but once again, Real won back the possession. In 78th minute, Malmo were down to ten men, when Yoshimar Yotun got his second yellow card for a wrongful tackle on Lucas Vazquez. Towards the end, Real took the game into Malmo’s penalty area. In the 90th minute, Kroos took a free-kick, after which a 1-2 between Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez resulted in the ball finally coming to Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese was not found wanting as he slid it past the Malmo goalkeeper Johan Wiland. By that goal, Ronaldo also equaled Raul Gonzalez’s all-time goal scoring record of 323 for the Spanish giants even as the match ended 2-0 in their favor.
Paris Saint-Germain scored their second win from two Group-stage games by defeating Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0. After Serge Aurier and David Luiz scored in 7th and 23rd minutes, Shakhtar captain Darijo Srna conceded an own goal in the 90th minute. PSG have remained unbeaten this season and look a promising side in this Champions League season. In a match full of own-goals, Kazakhstani side Astana wiped out Galatasaray’s lead on two occasions, when the Turkish Club players yielded the lead from own goals. Bilal Kisa had put Galatasaray ahead in the 31st minute but Hakan Balta’s own goal brought the equalizer for Astana. But Galatasaray led once again in the 86th minute, when Astana goalkeeper conceded an own goal. However the third out of the four own-goals of the match came from Galatasaray defender Lionel Carole in the 89th minute and the match ended 2-2.
English Premier League sides, Manchester United and Manchester City opened their UEFA Champions League accounts with victories over their rivals on Wednesday. Man-United defeated Wolfsburg 2-1 at old Trafford after Wolfsburg’s 4th minute goal by Daniel Caligiuri. Man-U equalized through Juan Mata’s penalty in the 34th minute and 8 minutes into the second half, Chris Smalling’s close-range finish gave Man-U a 2-1 victory. In Manchester City’s away game against Monchengladbach, the EPL side went on back foot after conceding a 54th minute goal. But they found the equalizer from an own goal by Monchengladbach’s Christensen in the 65th minute and scraped through by a 90th minute penalty scored by Sergio Aguero.
Atletico de Madrid suffered a 1-2 home loss against Benefica after leading 1-0 in the 23rd minute. The visitors struck 2 goals in 36th and 51st minutes and recorded their first win over the Madrid team after 1982. Last season’s runners-up Juventus defeated Sevilla 2-0 with a 41st minute goal by Morata and an 87th minute strike by Zaza. In Moscow, CSKA Moscow defeated PSV Eindhoven 3-2. The hosts took the lead in the 7th minute by Ahmed Musa’s goal and made it 3-0 through Seydou Doumbia, who scored twice in the 21st and 36th minutes. After halftime, Eindhoven pulled two goals back, when Maxime Lestienne struck in the 60th and 68th minutes. However the hosts took the game 3-2, when the final whistle blew.
