Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne saw Manchester City home against Sevilla in dramatic style in Wednesday’s Champions League action as Paris Saint-Germain held ten-time title holder Real Madrid to a goalless draw.
De Bruyne’s injury time contribution earned City a 2-1 home win against Spain’s Europa League champion and improve its chances of escaping from Group D and into the last 16.
An open affair at the Etihad Stadium was heading for a draw after Adil Rami’s own goal cancelled out Yevhen Konoplyanka’s 30th-minute opener for Sevilla, only for De Bruyne to gather a pass from Yaya Toure and slam home with his left foot seconds into stoppage time.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men moved up to second, one point behind Juventus, the Serie A giant held to a 0-0 stalemate by Borussia Moenchengladbach in Turin.
Manchester United, which hosts City in the Premier League on Sunday, faced a tricky assignment away to CSKA Moscow, its French starlet Anthony Martial firmly leaving his imprint on the encounter.
Atoning for a mistake The 19-year-old was called for handball which led to CSKA taking the lead on 15 minutes, Seydou Doumbia slamming in the rebound after United keeper David de Gea had parried Roman Eremenko’s penalty onto the post.
But the French teenager atoned for his mistake with a fine header after the hour for his first goal in the competition and fifth since his high profile move from Monaco in August.
Bundesliga side Wolfsburg tops the pool on six points after defeating PSV Eindhoven 2-0, with United and CSKA on four and the Dutch champion bringing up the rear on three.
Ronaldo, the Brazilian 2002 World Cup winner, was in the stands at Parc des Princes to watch the headline tie between PSG and Real.
But despite both clubs deploying their all-time top scorers, the game ended goalless, Real legend Cristiano Ronaldo coming as close as anyone to breaking the deadlock in the French capital with a second-half volley that whistled wide.
Both sides remain unbeaten this season and are yet to concede after three games as they sit locked together on seven points at the top of Group A.
Malmo won 1-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the group’s other game but Paris and Madrid are each four points clear of the Swedes and will have an opportunity to clinch qualification for the last 16 when they meet again in Spain in a fortnight.
Atletico cruises In Group C, Diego Simeone’s 2014 runner-up Atletico Madrid eased past Astana 4-0 to get its European campaign back on track after a shock defeat to Benfica last time out.
Galatasaray’s 2-1 win over Benfica in the other game in the group means Atletico draws level with Benfica at the top on six points, two points clear of the Turkish champion.
The results: Group A: At Malmo: Malmo 1 (Rosenborg 17) bt Shakhtar Donetsk 0; At Paris: Paris Saint-Germain 0 drew with Real Madrid 0.
Group B: At Moscow: CSKA Moscow 1 (Doumbia 15) drew with Manchester United 1 (Martial 65); At Wolfsburg: Wolfsburg 2 (Dost 46, Kruse 57) bt PSV Eindhoven 0.
Group C: At Madrid: Atletico Madrid 4 (Saul Niguez 23, Martinez 29, Oliver Torres 63, Dedechko 89-og) bt Astana 0; At Istanbul: Galatasaray 2 (Selcuk Inan 19-pen, Podolski 33) bt Benfica 1 (Gaitan 2).
Group D:At Turin: Juventus 0 drew with Borussia Monchengladbach 0; At Manchester: Manchester City 2 (Rami 36-og, De Bruyne 90+1) bt Sevilla 1 (Konoplyanka 30).
Tuesday’s results:
Group E: At Barysaw (Belarus): BATE 0 lost to Barcelona 2 (Rakitic 48, 64); At Leverkusen: Bayer Leverkusen 4 (Hernandez 4-pen, 19, Kampl 84, Mehmedi 86) drew with Roma 4 (De Rossi 29, 38, Pjanic 54, Falque 73).
Group F: At London: Arsenal 2 (Giroud 77, Ozil 90+4) bt Bayern Munich 0; At Zagreb: Dinamo Zagreb 0 lost to Olympiakos 1 (Ideye 79).
Group G: At Porto: Porto 2 (Aboubakar 37, Brahimi 41) bt Maccabi Tel Aviv 0; At Kiev: Dynamo Kiev 0 drew with Chelsea 0.
Group H: Zenit St. Petersburg 3 (Dzyuba 3, Hulk 56, Danny 83) bt Lyon 1 (Lacazette 49); At Valencia: Valencia 2 (L Nielsen 15-og, Mitrovic 72-og) bt Gent 1 (Foket 40).
