As always, the UEFA Champions League nights are huge, colourful and full of cheer for every football fan. Tuesday night did not disappoint.
The biggest game of the night obviously was the clash at the Signal Iduna between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo fired Madrid into the lead inside 17 minutes, smashing a first-time effort into the bottom corner after being played in by Gareth Bale’s backheel. It was another landmark goal that took him to 95 goals on the European scorers’ list.
Dortmund, however, pulled level just before the break through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was on hand to tap in with the ball already set to cross the line after Keylor Navas had punched into Raphael Varane following a free kick into the box.
Varane then made amends down the other end in the 68th minute, firing home from close range after Karim Benzema had seen his effort following Ronaldo’s delivery cannon back off the woodwork.
Andre Schurrle scored a last-gasp equalizer as Borussia Dortmund came from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid, smashing into the roof of the net following a ball into the box from Christian Pulisic.
Schurrle’s goal earned the Germans a draw and also kept their unbeaten home record intact.
For Leicester City, it was another big night in their 132 year history. The Foxes became the first English club to win their first two matches in the Champions league and in superb fashion. Dispatching Club Brugge away in the first game and beating Porto at the King Power. Leicester’s opponents Porto might not have had so much information on the Leicester players but there was one man they knew all too well- summer signing Islam Slimani.
The Algerian moved to the East Midlands for 29 million pounds and has started quite brilliantly.
The man who was playing in the Algeria’s fourth division at the age of 21 did not make the move to Europe until he was 25, joining Sporting from Algiers outfit CR Belouizdad.
A raw, rangy and technically unrefined target man, he moved to Sporting as back-up for Colombian striker Fredy Montero and was initially used as an impact substitute.
He gradually became an integral cog in the team, scoring goals for fun and thrilling the Sporting crowd.
Long tagged as the Dragon Slayer by Portuguese fans, Islam Slimani was the hero as Leicester made it two wins out of two in the Champions League by beating Porto 1-0 at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes’ summer signing found the back of the net on 25 minutes as he arrived in the box to head home Riyad Mahrez’s delivery.
Porto had a chance to equalise late on after Kasper Schmeichel failed to deal with a ball into the box, but Jesus Corona could only fire against the post.
Ghanaian Daniel Amartey was also massive in midfield for Ranieri’s side. Chasing down everything and attempting the simplest of passes.
Son Heung-Min was on the scoresheet again as Tottenham saw off CSKA Moscow 1-0 in Russia.
Spurs came close to opening the scoring in the first half with Dele Alli smashing the bar from distance and Vincent Janssen seeing a goal disallowed.
But it was Son who found the breakthrough in the second period, latching onto Erik Lamela’s pass before just slotting past Igor Akinfeev for his fifth goal of the season.
Juventus made light work of Dinamo Zagreb as they waltzed to a 4-0 victory in Croatia.
Pjanic took advantage of a defensive mistake from Dinamo in the first half, latching onto a loose ball before clipping it past Adrian Semper in goal.
Gonzalo Higuain soon made it two for Juve as he chested down a long ball from Hernanes and then slotted into the bottom corner.
Paulo Dybala added a third in the second half with a strike from long distance that flew into the back of the net, before Adrian Semper turned into his own goal shortly before the final whistle.
By Yaw Ofosu Larbi|3news.com|Ghana
Twitter: @3Newsgh
