We’ve got surprises in the UEFA Champions League, including Manchester United’s 2-0 start to life in a brutal Group H.
United scored one more goal than PL pals Chelsea, who beat up Krasnodar through Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic, while Borussia Dortmund and Club Brugge both posted solid results.
[ UCL: Full lineups, stats, box scores ]
And don’t forget about Barcelona, as Lionel Messi was pure dynamite in leading the Blaugranas to a win over Juventus in Turin.
Krasnodar 0-4 Chelsea -- RECAP, VIDEO
An impressive away win in Russia got even better for American fans of the Blues when a rested Christian Pulisic came on for injured Callum Hudson-Odoi, who had scored Chelsea’s first goal.
The score 2-0 on a Timo Werner penalty, Pulisic helped salt away the result with a “hockey assist” on Hakim Ziyech’s goal before finding a Tammy Abraham pass and slotting home in the 90th minute.
It’s the American’s 12th Chelsea goal and fourth in the Champions League between Borussia Dortmund and his current employers.
Sevilla 1-0 Stade Rennais
Julen Lopetegui’s side joins Chelsea in keeping a pair of clean sheets, though the Europa League champions could only manage a Luuk de Jong goal in out-attempting its French visitors 23-2.
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Zenit-Saint Petersburg
Jadon Sancho scored a 78th-minute penalty and countryman Jude Bellingham set up Erling Haaland in stoppage time as Dortmund collected its first win of the group stage.
USMNT mid Giovanni Reyna went 84 minutes before being replaced by Bellingham. The American teen completed 83 percent of his passes and drew two fouls.
A bit too easy for Haaland here:
And we have liftoff 🚀 Erling Håland is on the scoresheet, 2-0 @BVB pic.twitter.com/jTe1PUUlt2
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 28, 2020
Club Brugge 1-1 Lazio
Hans Vanaken’s 42nd-minute penalty earned the Belgian hosts a surprise point, though it was not undeserved.
Brugge had 59 percent of the ball in answering Joaquin Correa’s early goal for Lazio, as both sides have one more point than Dortmund after two match days.
USMNT goalkeeper Ethan Horvath was back on back-up duty after his emotional fill-in win for COVID-19 hit Simon Mignolet last week.
Juventus 0-2 Barcelona
Lionel Messi scored a penalty after setting up Ousmane Dembele for the opener and its no surprise that the Argentine looked his old self as Barcelona marked the beginning of the post-Josep Maria Bartomeu era with a 2-0 win over Cristiano Ronaldo-less Juventus.
The opening goal was a looping, deflected goal but it sure looked nice as Dembele took a delightful first touch on a pinged switch from the Argentine.
Barca has six points through two matches and takes all three from its toughest test of the group stage.
Alvaro Morata had three goals either taken off the board or verified as non-goals by VAR, as Juve has three points through two group stage outings.
Merih Demiral was sent off in the 85th minute for Juve.
USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie marked his return with 15 minutes off the bench. He made a fine intervention on Messi as part of two tackles in a nine-touch cameo.
New Barcelona back and fellow USMNT star Sergino Dest was an unused sub after going 90 minutes in El Clasico, with Sergi Roberto going the distance at right back.
¡Goooooooooool del Barcelona! ⚽🔥
— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) October 28, 2020
Dembélé le pegó con todo y gracias a un desvío pone en ventaja a los culés. 😎@juventusfces 0-1 @FCBarcelona_es #UCL | #Juventus | #Barcelona
🔴 En vivo
📺 TUDN
📲 Síguelo aquí 👉 https://t.co/ivYrOXjXWP pic.twitter.com/5at5C1AkDk
Ferencvaros 2-2 Dynamo Kiev
Franck Boli and Tokmac Nguen scored second-half goals as the Hungarian hosts rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit and blowout loss to Barcelona and won against its Ukrainian visitors.
Dynamo’s Viktor Tsygankov continues to impress and joined Carlos De Pena on the score sheet.
Istanbul Basaksehir 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain -- RECAP, VIDEO
A Neymar injury is taking the shine off of PSG’s bounce back from an opening day loss to Manchester United.
The Brazilian limped off the pitch after just 26 minutes, putting the onus on his fellow attackers to pick up the slack.
Everton loanee Moise Kean scored the goals, both off Kylian Mbappe assists.
Manchester United 5-0 RB Leipzig -- Three things we learned
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has to figure out how to bring his Champions League management to the Premier League, because his side followed up a win over last season’s runners-up by comprehensively defeating a semifinalist who currently leads the Bundesliga. Wow.
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