Barcelona see off Shakhtar to edge towards Champions League knockout stages with Ferran Torres and Fermin Lopez on target; Feyenoord move top of Group E after beating Lazio 3-1, as Santiago Gimenez nets twice
Wednesday 25 October 2023 22:51, UK
Another Kylian Mbappe moment of magic and Randal Kolo Muani's goal helped PSG beat a toothless AC Milan 3-0 at the Parc des Princes to go top of Group F.
Mbappe broke the deadlock with a clever low shot before the break, before Kolo Muani doubled the advantage in the second half after some fine play by their France team-mate Ousmane Dembele.
Lee Kang-in added a third in the last minute for good measure.
PSG got off to an aggressive start but were outnumbered in the midfield and struggled to free themselves from Milan's pressing play.
They managed once, however, to take the upper hand in the midfield when Zaire-Emery powered through to find Mbappe, who beat his defender and found the back of the net with a low shot into the corner on 32 minutes.
Dembele celebrated what he thought was his first goal with PSG soon after, but his effort was ruled out for a preceding foul by Manuel Ugarte.
Dembele did not give up, however, and then created Kolo Muani's goal five minutes later as his shot was deflected by Milan 'keeper Mike Maignan into the path of his compatriot, who slotted it into the empty net.
Milan threatened at times, notably through Christian Pulisic, but Gianluigi Donnarumma was enjoying a good day, also tipping Rafael Leao's effort away to keep a clean sheet.
Mbappe had another couple of chances but was twice denied by Maignan, who was at his best to make two great saves.
Lee then scored his first PSG goal in the last minute when he connected with a Zaire-Emery cut back as the French U21 midfielder completed a man-of-the-match performance.
First-half goals from Ferran Torres and Fermin Lopez helped Barcelona to a 2-1 win against Shakhtar to keep up their perfect start in Champions League Group H.
The locals dominated from the start despite missing several key players due to injury and suspensions, and they opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a Torres volley on the rebound after 20-year-old Lopez's strike from close range crashed against the woodwork.
The goal was initially ruled out for a hint of an offside in the build-up, but a VAR check confirmed Lopez's involvement had been legal.
Without the injured Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Sergi Roberto, Frenkie de Jong, Jules Kounde and Pedri, and with midfielder Gavi suspended for a red card in Barcelona's win against FC Porto, manager Xavi Hernandez called up eight academy players including Lopez, who is becoming a regular in the first team.
He caused all kinds of trouble for Shakhtar and extended Barca's lead in the 36th minute, unleashing a thunderous shot which ricocheted off the left post on its way in.
Barca then missed several chances to stretch out their lead, with Lopez hitting the post twice more and having two goals ruled out by VAR for offside.
Shakhtar midfielder Georgiy Sudakov stroked in a tidy finish on the counter in the 62nd minute to narrow the deficit, but Barcelona held on despite late pressure to secure their third win in three games.
Feyenoord beat visitors Lazio 3-1 on Wednesday thanks to a double from Mexico's Santiago Gimenez and a strike from Ramiz Zerrouki to move top of Champions League Group E.
The Dutch champions could have taken the lead in the 25th minute when Gimenez's effort was disallowed after a VAR review, but he had another shot five minutes later from Mats Wieffer's pass which flew into the top corner of Ivan Provedel's net.
Gimenez scored on his debut in Europe's top club competition to become the second Mexican player to do so after Edson Alvarez for Ajax against Lille in 2019.
Feyenoord, European champions in 1970, doubled their lead before half-time when midfielder Calvin Stengs cut inside and set up Algeria international Zerrouki to shoot home.
Gimenez grabbed his second from a rebound from Quinten Timber's shot in the 74th minute but Lazio claimed a consolation when Marcos Lopez fouled Valentin Castellanos and Pedro Rodriguez converted the penalty seven minutes from time.
Striker Evanilson came off the bench to score a hat-trick as Porto rallied from a goal down to beat hosts Royal Antwerp 4-1 in Group H on Wednesday.
Antwerp took a first-half lead when Alhassan Yusuf swept home a shot from the edge of the box, but Porto were level seconds after halftime through Evanilson's deflected strike.
Porto hit the front when Stephen Eustaquio placed his shot into the far corner of the net, before Evanilson completed his hat-trick with a volleyed finish and a sublime chip to net his third.
RB Leipzig strengthened their hold on second place in Group G with a 3-1 victory over Red Star Belgrade.
The hosts grabbed the lead in the 12th minute when Red Star lost possession in their own half and the Germans launched a quick, five-touch passing move which ended with David Raum drilling in with his left foot for his first Champions League goal.
