United, Arsenal rocked in CL as Real edge Napoli
PARIS: It was an English player’s night in the Champions League, even as both of the English teams in action lost.
Jude Bellingham once again inspired Real Madrid in a thrilling 3-2 win at Napoli on Tuesday as Manchester United and Arsenal were beaten by Galatasaray and Lens, respectively.
Nine games into his Real career and Bellingham is fast becoming the team’s star attraction.
The England midfielder assisted Vinicius Junior for one goal to level the score at 1-1 after Leo Ostigard headed Napoli in front and then tore apart the Italian champions’ defence on his own to score.
Piotr Zielinski converted a penalty to level for Napoli at the start of the second half but an own goal from home goalkeeper Alex Meret — after some unfortunate deflections — handed Carlo Ancelotti’s side the victory in Group ‘C’.
It was the second Champions League game in a row where Bellingham played a vital role for Real after scoring the winning goal against Union Berlin.
“What’s so amazing about Bellingham is that he’s only 20. He has great quality, a strong personality and character,” Ancelotti told Sky Sport. “He’s a young man of 20 who’s showing everyone what extraordinary talent he has.”
Braga ruined Union’s home debut in the competition as Andre Castro struck a stoppage-time winner in a 3-2 victory. Union were two goals ahead after Sheraldo Becker’s brace but Sikou Niakate pulled one back before Bruma curled in a brilliant equaliser from 25 metres.
Castro broke Union hearts with a low strike from outside the area to give Braga their first points in their first Champions League appearance since 2012 while Union’s qualifying chances have already taken a heavy blow.
United and Arsenal both lost to teams whose better days in European football were in the late 1990s and early 2000s — before Bellingham was born.
A 3-2 loss at home to Galatasaray despite two goals from Rasmus Højlund — United’s sixth defeat in 10 games in all competitions — means more pressure on manager Erik Ten Hag and his side in danger of an early exit
“The mental errors we make, you cannot allow them at this level. You get punished. This is difficult to control,” Ten Hag told TNT Sports.
Hojlund was one of the rare bright spots for United, scoring two well-taken goals, but Galatasaray responded both times as Wilfried Zaha netted against his old side before Kerem Akturkoglu struck.
Icardi dragged a penalty wide after Casemiro was sent off for a desperate lunge following a dreadful ball out from goalkeeper Andre Onana, but the Argentine had the last laugh when he chipped home on 81 minutes.
That leaves United bottom of Group ‘A’, four points behind Galatasaray in second place and six adrift of Bayern Munich who came from behind to beat FC Copenhagen 2-1 in Denmark.
Lukas Lerager fired the Danes ahead early in the second half, but Jamal Musiala bagged a superb individual goal to haul Bayern level before teenage substitute Mathys Tel lashed in a fine strike late on after combining with 34-year-old team-mate Thomas Müller.
Arsenal slumped to a first defeat of the season as Lens hit back to win 2-1 in northern France. Gabriel Jesus gave Mikel Arteta’s side an ideal start when he opened the scoring in the 14th minute to silence a raucous Stade Bollaert.
Adrien Thomasson soon brought last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up level and the visitors saw Bukayo Saka limp off before half-time.
Wahi, the 20-year-old striker who became Lens’ club-record signing when he joined at the start of the campaign, then fired home in the 69th minute and his side held on for a famous victory.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said his team “missed some big chances,” but is “just warming up and getting into our rhythm” at this stage of the season.
Arsenal’s victory over PSV Eindhoven last time out was a landmark — a win in its first Champions League game since the 2016-17 season — but the wait for Lens was much longer. The French team last won a Champions League game back in 2002 against AC Milan and hadn’t qualified for Europe’s top club competition again until this season.
Lens climbed to the top of Group ‘B’ on four points, one above Arsenal. PSV snatched a 2-2 draw at home against Sevilla in the other game in the group courtesy of Jordan Teze’s stoppage-time equaliser after a late flurry of goals in the Netherlands.
Real Sociedad also picked up their first Champions League win for 20 years, beating Salzburg 2-0 on first-half goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Brais Mendez.
Marcus Thuram scored the only goal of the game for last season’s Champions League runner-up Inter Milan in a 1-0 win over Benfica to move level on four points with Sociedad at the top of Group ‘D’.
Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2023
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