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UCL round-up: Man City beat Barca, Ozil nets winner

Sport360 staff 02:14 02/11/2016
Manchester City and Barcelona led an exciting night of action.

Ilkay Gundogan struck twice as Manchester City produced a thrilling fightback to beat Barcelona 3-1 in a sensational Champions League clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Kevin De Bruyne was also on target with a sublime free-kick as City responded to Lionel Messi’s early strike in remarkable fashion.

City’s performance was not only an emphatic response to the 4-0 thrashing in the Nou Camp a fortnight ago that had people questioning manager Pep Guardiola’s methods, but reignited their challenge in Group C.

It was a compelling, breathless contest in which both sides created numerous chances against fallible defences.

City had a strong penalty claim turned down early on while Andre Gomes hit the woodwork for Barca. Yet these were just a couple of many memorable moments that contributed to what will be remembered as a classic, and what was perhaps the dawn of a new era for City in Europe.

A late Mesut Ozil strike saw Arsenal come from two goals behind to beat Ludogorets and secure their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

With Group A rivals Paris St Germain beating Basle in Switzerland, a win for the Gunners would be enough to see them through with two games to spare – and Ozil popped up with three minutes remaining to complete a 3-2 win, which had looked improbable following a shaky start to proceedings at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia.

Ludogorets were two goals ahead inside the opening 15 minutes as Jonathan Cafu and Claudiu Keseru struck – but a first Champions League goal for Granit Xhaka and a header from Olivier Giroud before the break had Arsenal level and Ozil’s late heroics mean they have qualified from the opening group stage for a 17th consecutive season.

Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Bayern Munich came from behind to beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 at Philips Stadion and secure their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Thomas Meunier volleyed home a stunning late winner as Paris St Germain guaranteed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a dramatic 2-1 win over Basle.

Luca Zuffi looked to have earned a point for the hosts when he conjured an opportunistic 25-yarder in the 76th minute, equalising Blaise Matuidi’s opener.

Meunier had a hand in that too, his shot diverted goalwards by Matuidi, but he had something special up his sleeve in the 90th minute as he produced a technically beautiful strike from the edge of the box.

It was hard luck on home goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, who made a string of important saves to keep his side in the Group A contest.

Antoine Griezmann grabbed a stoppage-time winner as Atletico Madrid maintained their 100 per cent record in Champions League Group D with a 2-1 win over Rostov at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Griezmann opened the scoring with his first goal of the Champions League season but they were pegged back almost immediately by Iran international Sardar Azmoun.

And just as it looked like Diego Simeone’s side were going to be frustrated, Griezmann popped up with the last-gasp winner.

Moussa Dembele’s second-half penalty gave Celtic a 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday and kept the Hoops’ Champions League hopes alive.

In a spirited performance by the visitors, Scott Sinclair crashed a shot off the post in the 23rd minute before home captain Lars Stindl, who had opened the scoring in their 2-0 win in Glasgow, volleyed home on 32 minutes to give the Bundesliga side the interval lead.

Striker Andre Hahn hit woodwork for the hosts after the break but, in the 76th minute, defender Julian Korb was shown a straight red card by Portuguese referee Manuel De Sousa for pulling Dembele down in the box as he shaped to shoot, and the French striker slotted in the penalty.

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