Late Szoboszlai penalty guides Liverpool to victory
Liverpool shrugged off the absence of Mohamed Salah as midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai scored an 88th-minute penalty to give them a 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan on Tuesday that boosts their hopes of a top-eight finish.
With the shadow of absent winger Salah's recent falling-out with head coach Arne Slot still hanging over them, Liverpool needed a positive result, but Inter made it hard for them until a late loss of concentration cost them dearly.
With the game heading for a draw, Alessandro Bastoni tugged on Florian Wirtz's shirt and the German's theatrical tumble in the box alerted the VAR, who told the referee to take a second look.
Szoboszlai stepped up and slammed the ball past keeper Yann Sommer to lift his side to eighth place in the table on 12 points after six of their eight group games. With the top eight qualifying directly for the last 16, Inter are in fifth place, also on 12 points but with a superior goal difference.
Curtis Jones got the visitors off to a promising start when he tested Inter keeper Sommer with an early shot, but the Merseysiders quickly got bogged down as Inter's disciplined defending offered them few opportunities.
Liverpool thought they had taken the lead through a close-range header from Ibrahima Konate just after the half-hour mark, but a lengthy VAR review saw the goal chalked off for a Hugo Ekitike handball moments before.
Inter headed into the break having already made two substitutions as both Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi were forced off due to injury, but they more than held their own in the second half before coming unstuck late on.
Conor Bradley and Wirtz replaced Joe Gomez and Alexander Isak in the 68th minute, and the two had an immediate impact, with Bradley going close with a shot from a tight angle and Wirtz playing his part in winning the penalty.
There appeared to be little danger as defender Bastoni cleared a chip towards Wirtz, but he had grabbed a handful of the Liverpool substitute's shirt and pulled him back, and after another VAR review the referee pointed to the spot to give them the chance they desperately needed.
"Huge result. We knew we were coming to a tough place, to a team that's in a good moment. We had to show fight and dig in. The clean sheet was crucial and then we go and scored the goal," Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said they had handled the game well. "It could have been a 0-0 game in the end," he added. "But it ended positively for us."
There was disappointment for Inter, who started with four straight wins but have now lost two in a row.
"It's tough to lose this game, the positive side is if we play like this we win most games," defender Manuel Akanji said.
Kounde headers give Barcelona win over Frankfurt
Jules Kounde's quickfire brace of headers helped Barcelona to fight back to edge past Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the Champions League at Camp Nou on Tuesday, marking a much-needed win for the Catalan side.
After a draw against Club Brugge and a loss to Chelsea, Barcelona found their stride to climb to 14th in the standings, level on 10 points with several teams, as they aim for a top-eight finish to secure direct qualification for the last 16. Frankfurt are 30th with four points from six matches.
Frankfurt struck first in the 21st minute through Ansgar Knauff on the counter but Barca's persistence paid off when Kounde scored twice early in the second half.
In the 50th minute he nodded home from just inside the box from Marcus Rashford's cross and, in the 53rd, the French defender jumped high in a crowded box to head the winner from a Lamine Yamal cross.
"They have made it difficult for us. They sat very deep, had a lot of players on the back, which makes it tough, Lamine Yamal had two or three players on him all the time," Pedri told Movistar Plus.
"We made some adjustments at halftime, put more players up front and it worked out, we felt better and found the goals. Kounde is a guy who works hard and deserves it. We're happy with the result."
In front of an animated Camp Nou crowd – its first Champions League fixture since partially reopening after two-and-a-half years of redevelopment – Barcelona started in control of possession.
Robert Lewandowski thought he had netted the opener in the ninth minute, only to see his close-range strike ruled out for offside in the build-up.
However, it was Frankfurt who seized the initiative in the 21st minute, exploiting Barcelona's high defensive line.
Nathaniel Brown launched a defence-splitting pass to Knauff, who sprinted clear of Alejandro Balde and coolly slid the ball past Joan Garcia to put the visitors ahead.
The goal extended Barcelona's poor defensive record in the competition under coach Hansi Flick, having now conceded in nine consecutive Champions League matches and keeping a clean sheet in only four of their last 13 outings.
Barcelona pressed to equalise before halftime, with the 18-year-old Yamal providing a dangerous low cross for Fermin Lopez, but the midfielder's first-time effort was heroically blocked near the goal-line.
Against the run of play, Frankfurt nearly doubled their advantage when Ellyes Skhiri fired narrowly wide from the edge of the box just before the interval.
Frankfurt emerged sharper after the break, with Garcia producing two excellent saves to deny efforts from Fares Chaibi and Hugo Larsson in quick succession. Those saves proved pivotal, keeping Barcelona in contention.
In the 50th minute, substitute Rashford delivered an inch-perfect cross from the left which met Kounde's darting run into the box. The French defender headed into the bottom corner, levelling the score.
Three minutes later, Kounde struck again when another cross from Yamal – now operating on the left – found him in a crowded box. Using his strength, the defender rose above his marker and angled a header into the net to give Barcelona the lead.
Barcelona pushed for a third goal but Frankfurt held firm and posed intermittent danger on the counter. Despite the late drama, Kounde's second-half heroics proved enough for the hosts to seal the win and give their Champions League campaign a much-needed boost.
Bayern's incredible comeback to beat Sporting
Bayern Munich scored three times in 12 minutes in the second half to race back from a goal down and beat Portuguese visitors Sporting 3-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday and stay firmly on course for a top-eight finish in the league phase.
Goals from Serge Gnabry, teenager Lennart Karl and Jonathan Tah between the 65th and 77th minutes gave the Bundesliga leaders an impressive comeback win after Sporting took a surprise lead thanks to a Joshua Kimmich own goal nine minutes after the restart.
Man-of-the-match Karl, aged 17 years and 290 days, became the youngest player in Champions League history to score in three consecutive appearances and his performance will further boost his chances of a Germany call-up ahead of next year's World Cup.
"To play in the Champions League at 17 is something special for me," a beaming Karl said. "I am very proud of myself and the team."
"I have trained a lot with the right foot and I was rewarded today," he said of his goal where he controlled the ball with a fine touch and then scored. "It was a perfect contact with the left and then fired with the right."
The Bavarians, who suffered their first defeat across all competitions this season when they lost to Arsenal in the Champions League on the previous matchday two weeks ago, are on 15 points in second place with two matches left in the league phase. Sporting dropped to ninth on 10 points.
The top eight teams qualify for the knockout stage, with the next 16 going into a playoff for eight more spots.
Bayern went on the attack from the start and put the ball in the net after five minutes through Karl, only for his effort to be ruled out by VAR for offside.
Bundesliga top-scorer Harry Kane went even closer when he hit the post with a deft shot in the 37th before Sporting keeper Rui Silva pulled off a reflex save to stop Karl's shot a minute before the break.
The injury-hit visitors stunned the home crowd when they went 1-0 up against the run of play thanks to Kimmich, who stabbed in a Joao Simoes cutback for an own goal.
It did not take long for Bayern to respond and Michael Olise whipped in a 65th-minute corner to the far post for Gnabry to volley in the equaliser.
Karl got on the scoresheet four minutes later, drilling in his third goal in four Champions League matches in his meteoric rise this season. Tah, who had almost scored an own goal in the first half, sealed their win, poking in from close range in the 77th.
Atalanta turn the tide to beat Chelsea
Atalanta sealed an important Champions League comeback victory, overturning Chelsea 2-1 at home on Tuesday through goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Charles De Ketelaere.
The win put the Bergamo side near the top of the Champions League table, giving them a major step toward direct qualification for the round of 16 with 13 points, while Chelsea sit in the knockout phase play-off section on 10.
Joao Pedro broke the deadlock for Chelsea after 25 minutes, pouncing on a quickly taken corner that caught Atalanta sleeping. He swept in a pinpoint low cross from Reece James and, after a brief VAR check confirmed he had timed his run perfectly, the goal stood.
Chelsea kept control up to the interval but Atalanta returned with far more intent after the break and soon thought they had levelled when Ademola Lookman tapped in a cross. But Lookman had strayed clearly offside and the goal was ruled out with little protest.
The momentum had clearly shifted to the hosts and in the 55th minute De Ketelaere battled his way down the side of the box and lifted a clever ball into the middle, where Scamacca broke free from his marker and steered a header into the net for the equaliser.
Atalanta had fully taken command, with Chelsea struggling to cope with the Italians’ rapid flank play. Seven minutes before stoppage time, De Ketelaere burst into the box and fired a low effort that keeper Robert Sanchez could only parry into the roof of the net, completing the hosts’ comeback.
Chelsea pushed hard to rescue a point in the closing stages, creating several late chances, but the margins were not on the London club’s side as the attempts were either saved or missed the goal.
Atletico shoot up standings with win at PSV
Atletico Madrid came from behind to beat PSV Eindhoven 3-2 away on Tuesday and move up to seventh spot in the Champions League standings, all but ensuring their progress to the knockout stages.
Julian Alvarez, David Hancko and Alexander Sorloth all took advantage of some sloppy defending by their Dutch hosts to score after PSV had taken an early lead through Guus Til.
The Spanish side had to hold on desperately at the end as PSV came surging back when Ricardo Pepi pulled back a goal five minutes from time.
It set up a grandstand finish with a vociferous crowd urging the home side on but despite several chances PSV could not force a dramatic late draw.
The home side were hoping to build on the momentum of their shock 4-1 win at Liverpool in their last Champions League outing at the end of last month and got off to a rapid start at the Philips Stadion.
But they were undone by mistakes and in the end slipped from 15th to 19th in the standings.
Atletico, who were in 12th spot before Tuesday’s match, now have 12 points from six matches, which should be enough to secure them a spot in at least the playoffs if last season’s tallies are an indicator.
PSV still have much to do as they remain on eight points with fixtures to come away against Newcastle United and home to Bayern Munich next month.
The hosts swept into an early lead with a quick counter-attack, set up by Joey Veerman and with Couhaib Driouech unselfishly feeding Til for an easy finish in the 10th minute.
But as they were looking comfortably in command, PSV were caught when a shallow pass out of defence from goalkeeper Matej Kovar to Yarek Gasiorowski was stolen away by Giuliano Simeone, who fed Sorloth and then Alvarez for the 37th-minute equaliser.
Hancko finished off a rebound in the 52nd minute to put Atletico in front, and four minutes later Sorloth easily headed home from Pablo Barrios’s pin-point cross with the home defenders nowhere to be seen.
PSV, who have netted several late goals in the Champions League, set up a tense finish when a corner was flicked on by Ivan Perisic and touched in at the back post by fellow substitute Pepi.
Armando Obispo missed a gilt-edged chance to snatch a point on the stroke of fulltime.
“We ended up suffering unnecessarily. We could have scored more goals if we had been more clinical. We suffered but the important thing is the three points,” said Alvarez.
"I think we're not creating the chances and they were," said PSV captain Jerdy Schouten. "They're very lethal. Especially in the second half, we could have done better.
"We started the match well but it was the small things that decided it. It became static, we couldn't get out of the way, got nervous and didn't perform as well. We picked it up well in the second half and so it's a shame to lose."
Tottenham close in on top eight
Tottenham Hotspur maintained their strong Champions League home form with a 3-0 win against Slavia Prague thanks to an own goal and penalties for Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons on Tuesday.
The London club were made to work hard by the visitors but eventually eased to a third win on their own turf in this year's competition to boost their hopes of a top-eight finish.
Thomas Frank's side got their noses in front in the 26th minute when a Pedro Porro corner was headed into his own net by David Zima under no real pressure.
Porro was involved again five minutes after the restart when he was hacked down in the area by Youssoupha Sanyang and Kudus calmly beat Jindrich Stanek from the spot.
Simons, who scored his first goal for Tottenham at the weekend, was then taken down in the area by Igoh Ogbu in the 78th minute and tucked away the resulting penalty.
Victory moved Tottenham provisionally into ninth place in the 36-team table with 11 points from six games, although they could drop lower after Wednesday's games.
Slavia were slick on the ball and created several good chances but remain on three points and face an uphill battle in their final two games to scrape into the playoff positions.
Tottenham great Son Heung-min, who left the club in the summer after being part of the Europa League-winning side, was welcomed back for a pre-match walk-on.
The South Korean forward scored 173 goals during his Tottenham career and has been badly missed at times during a rocky start to the Frank reign in north London.
But there are signs that Tottenham are beginning to gel, especially in attack, with players such as Kudus and Simons starting to deliver on their potential.
Tottenham took a 22-game unbeaten home run in Europe into Tuesday's clash and almost got the perfect start when a Wilson Odobert cross was met by Richarlison but his close-range effort was somehow kept out by Slavia keeper Stanek.
Slavia had chances too, with the lively Lukas Provod forcing Guglielmo Vicario into action while Michal Sadilek also had a chance to bring the visitors level.
Tottenham doubled their lead when a wild tackle by Sanyang allowed Kudus to score his third goal for the club. Simons then got in on the act to double his Tottenham goal tally.
With the top eight moving automatically through to the last 16, Tottenham still have plenty of work to do with a home game against Borussia Dortmund and an away clash with Eintracht Frankfurt in January completing their group fixtures.