Champions League: Man United stun Roma, Bayern win at Atlético
Matchday four of the UEFA Champions League league phase on Tuesday night brought a striking comeback from Manchester United against Roma, a valuable away win for Bayern München at Atlético de Madrid and six goals for holders Paris Saint-Germain, who kept their perfect record.
At Old Trafford, Roma led 2-0 at half-time through Matías Soulé and a Donyell Malen penalty. Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from a retaken penalty, before Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha scored twice in four minutes late on to give United a 3-2 win and end a run of nine matches without a victory. Cunha was then sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card, and Fernandes was named player of the match.
In Madrid, Bayern returned to winning ways after two straight draws with a 2-0 win over Atlético. Teenager Lennart Karl opened the scoring in the 54th minute after forcing a turnover in the penalty area, and Konrad Laimer added the second in the 74th minute from a superb Harry Kane pass, on a night when goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made his 164th appearance in the competition.
Elsewhere, Paris thrashed Villarreal 6-0 away after scoring four goals in the first 17 minutes, Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 with an early Lamine Yamal goal and a Raphinha double, Inter won 3-0 at Feyenoord, Galatasaray beat Stuttgart 2-0, Sporting CP won 1-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk and LASK beat Slovan Bratislava 4-0, while Bodø/Glimt and Lille drew 0-0. The matchday continues on Wednesday, with Leipzig against Manchester City, Fenerbahçe against Liverpool, Slavia Praha against Arsenal and AEK Athens against Real Madrid.
Al Majlis Analysis: The key takeaway from Tuesday is that the two big clubs who came into the round under pressure both left with three points, in very different ways: United through the spirit of a comeback after a poor first half, Bayern through discipline and patience until they punished a single Atlético error. United's win comes at a cost, though, as two-goal Cunha will miss the next match after his red card. In the wider picture, Paris are pulling away with a perfect record, and the results suggest the race for the eight automatic qualifying places will be decided by small margins as the league phase nears its midpoint.