PIX: Man City, Chelsea win big; PSG held after own goal

Erling Haaland has been directly involved in 41 goals in his last 23 home appearances at club level, with 35 goals and six assists.

A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.

Erling Haaland took his goal tally to an incredible 19 in all competitions this season with another double in Manchester City's 5-0 demolition of FC Copenhagen in Champions League Group G on Wednesday.

Haaland wasted no time in getting City going with yet another strike in his remarkable campaign, sweeping home an early opener, before putting the game beyond the Danish side inside 32 minutes.

City kept coming and added a third six minutes before the break as David Khocholava put through his own net, with Haaland lurking just behind in the hunt for his second treble in four days.

There was to be no hat-trick for Haaland as he was withdrawn at half-time, but the goals kept coming as Riyad Mahrez slotted home a penalty before Julian Alvarez finished things off with a late fifth.

The most comfortable of victories ensured City have taken a maximum nine points in the group and need two more to be sure of a spot in knockout stages. Copenhagen are bottom on one point from three games.

"Erling Haaland just wants to win the game, hat-tricks are not everything," City coach Pep Guardiola told reporters. "We need to have everyone involved. I know the problems we have now -- Kyle Walker is out for a long while -- but we can rely on players off the bench like Rico Lewis, even though he is only 17.

"This is the biggest title we can get, beyond the Premier League, the biggest we can get."

There may have been some sleepless nights among Copenhagen's defenders after Haaland bagged his third hat-trick since joining City in the close season against Manchester United on Sunday.

It took seven minutes on Wednesday for their nightmares to become a reality in the Manchester rain, as Haaland hammered home Joao Cancelo's pull back.

The Norwegian was then in the right place at the right time to convert the rebound after Sergio Gomez's shot had been saved.

Since failing to score or assist for Borussia Dortmund against City in April, 2021, Haaland has since been directly involved in 41 goals in his last 23 home appearances at club level, with 35 goals and six assists.

If it were not for former Liverpool academy goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, Haaland would have had a first-half hat-trick, and City could have been on course for a record win, given the amount of shots they had in the opening period.

They had to make do with one more before the break, Khocholava's own goal, with Mahrez stepping up to get in on the action from the spot early in the second half, following a foul on Aymeric Laporte in the penalty area.

Alvarez's third goal for City in all competitions was the icing on the cake, with the hosts wasting chances to make the result even more emphatic.

City have scored 20 goals in their last five games, all wins, a sign Pep Guardiola's team are hitting top gear.

Chelsea back on track after trouncing Milan

Chelsea got their Champions League campaign back on track in emphatic style when they brushed aside AC Milan with a dominant 3-0 home win thanks to goals from Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reece James.

Chelsea lost 1-0 to Dynamo Zagreb and drew 1-1 at home with Salzburg in their opening two Group E games but are now right back in the mix on four points, one behind Salzburg, who beat Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 earlier on Wednesday. Milan, who host the Londoners next week, also have four, with Zagreb on three.

The Italian seven-times champions will have to find a lot more in the San Siro than they showed in London if they are to have a good chance of advancing to the knockout stage for the first time since 2014.

Chelsea, by contrast, will travel full of confidence after rediscovering their swagger following their insipid opening games and though they still look a long way from the side who lifted the Cup in 2021 they were solid throughout and finished clinically.

They took a while to settle on Wednesday but gradually began to exert control as Mason Mount had a shot pushed wide and Thiago Silva went close with two headers from corners.

Inexplicably, the Brazilian was left unmarked for a third and though his powerful header was beaten out by stand-in keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu, after an ensuing scramble Fofana calmly tucked the ball into an inviting gap to make it 1-0 in the 24th minute.

Milan were muscular in their running but lacked guile and precision and failed to create a worthwhile chance until first-half stoppage time when Rade Krunic blazed over --– put off by a great last-ditch lunge by Ben Chilwell - after Kepa Arrizabalaga had saved from Charles de Ketelaere following a driving run by Rafael Leao.

It proved their high-water point of the night as in the 56th minute former Chelsea centre back Fikayo Tomori failed to cut out a near-post James cross and Aubameyang had a simple task to guide it home.

Five minutes later it was all over when James was again left unmarked on the right to run on to a Raheem Sterling pass and lashed an unstoppable third goal into the roof of the net.

PSG held at Benfica after Pereira own goal

Paris St Germain were held to a 1-1 draw at Benfica after an own goal by midfielder Danilo Pereira cancelled out Lionel Messi's superb strike in Champions League Group H.

The ball glanced off Pereira into the net in the 41st minute after Benfica forward Goncalo Ramos tried to head home but narrowly missed a cross by midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

Messi had given PSG the lead in the 22nd minute with a brilliant curling shot following an assist by Neymar.

Neymar hit the woodwork in the 49th minute with a bicycle kick and had a long-range free kick saved by Benfica keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.

PSG midfielder Fabian Ruiz came close to scoring a winner in the third minute of added time but his half-volley went narrowly above the bar.

PSG lead the group on seven points, level with second-placed Benfica, with Juventus third after earning their first three points with a 3-1 home win over Maccabi Haifa.

Di Maria steers Juventus past Maccabi Haifa

Juventus secured their first points in the Champions League this season after Angel Di Maria got a hat-trick of assists and Adrien Rabiot netted twice in a 3-1 home win over Maccabi Haifa in Group H.

The game marked a return to form for Argentine Di Maria, who had struggled with injuries and suspension this season.

"Di Maria was marvellous with his passes, he is an extraordinary player, his first game in quite a while and he did really well," Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.

Dusan Vlahovic's early header wide showed that Juve were determined not to lose four consecutive matches in the Champions League for the first time.

The Italian side took the lead after 35 minutes when Di Maria played a perfectly timed pass to Rabiot, who finished high into the net to the relief of coach Massimiliano Allegri and the fans in the stadium.

Di Maria then fed an unmarked Vlahovic from midfield in the 50th minute, and the Serbian doubled the lead when he calmly beat keeper Joshua Cohen.

Haifa reduced the deficit in the 75th minute when substitute Din David rounded Juve keeper Wojciech Szczesny and put the ball in the open net after a through-ball from Tjaronn Chery.

Juve seemed shocked by the goal and only a great save from Szczesny in the 81st minute prevented the Israeli side from equalising.

Juve put the game to bed, however, when Di Maria's corner in the 83rd minute was headed by Rabiot into the corner of the net.

Rodrygo, Vinicius score as Real Madrid sink Shakhtar

Brazilians Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr. scored in the first half as Real Madrid eased past Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in Champions League Group F.

The holders dominated the match from the start with almost 60 percent of ball possession and 35 total attempts against only 11 from Shakhtar.

But the hosts squandered a string of chances and dangerously left open the door for Shakhtar to stay in the game.

Rodrygo gave Real Madrid the lead in the 13th minute with an angled strike from the edge of the box.

With Vinicius and Federico Valderde running the channels, Rodrygo was playing in a more centralised role as a playmaker close to Karim Benzema.

He received a pass from Vinicius and sprinted towards the goal between three defenders before lashing a precise shot to the goalkeeper's left.

Rodrygo has scored 11 goals for Real in the Champions League, equalling club hero Raul Gonzalez for the most goals scored for the team in the competition while aged 21 or under.

Vinicius extended Real's lead 15 minutes later, finishing a fine collective effort by his team mates with a close-range strike after beating the offside trap.

Vinicius missed two clear chances in the following minutes and left Shakhtar in a position to close the gap with a beautiful goal by Oleksander Zubkov.

The Ukrainian striker reduced the deficit following a counter-attack six minutes before the break with a magnificent acrobatic volley from a Bohdan Mykhailichenko cross.

Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin was the star of the second half with a series of brilliant saves to stop Real extending their lead.

With Real pressing Trubin’s box relentlessly, they were exposed to counter-attacks and Mykhailo Mudryk almost tied the match in one of those, in the 51st minute, but his effort was denied one-on-one by his countryman Andriy Lunin, who was standing in for the injured Thibaut Courtois.

Vinicius, Benzema, Rodrygo and Valverde all had several chances denied by Trubin later.

Substitute Sergio Asensio smashed a thundering strike off the far post in added time.

The win lifted Real to a maximum nine points from three group games. Shakhtar are second in the standings on four points, one more than third-placed Leipzig.

Shakhtar and Real Madrid will face each other again next week in Warsaw where Shakhtar are hosting their Champions League matches due to the situation in Ukraine.

Silva double gives Leipzig win over Celtic

RB Leipzig earned their first Champions League points this season after a quickfire double from Andre Silva and Christopher Nkunku's first-half strike sealed a 3-1 home win over Celtic in Group F.

Nkunku twice raced clear to find the net - his first attempt was ruled a fraction offside after a VAR check but the Frenchman made amends in the 27th minute, poking the ball past the advancing Joe Hart and slotting home from a tight angle.

Celtic enjoyed a spell of pressure after the disallowed goal but were unable to take the lead after being overrun on the counter-attack, with Kyogo Furuhashi twice going close to breaking the deadlock.

The visitors got off to the perfect start in the second half, drawing level after two minutes when Furuhashi held off three Leipzig defenders before laying the ball off to Jota who scored with a composed finish.

Celtic got another reprieve from VAR when Dominik Szoboszlai's superb long-range effort was ruled out just after the hour mark but Silva capitalised on a poor pass from goalkeeper Hart seconds later to restore Leipzig's lead.

Silva calmly fired past Hart again in the 77th minute after Celtic were undone by a long diagonal pass from Nkunku, which Mohamed Simakan met with a cushioned volley to the Portuguese striker.

Leipzig are third in Group F with three points while Celtic are bottom with one. The teams meet again on Tuesday in Glasgow.

Dortmund score big win at Sevilla; Lopetegui sacked

Borussia Dortmund struck three times in the first half to beat hosts Sevilla 4-1 in Champions League Group G and stay firmly on course for a top-two finish as their opponents sacked coach Julen Lopetegui.

Raphael Guerreiro put the Germans in front with a powerful strike from 16 metres from a Jude Bellingham cross and the 19-year-old turned scorer, angling a shot into the far corner after a superb run into the box, to become the youngest captain to score in a Champions League match.

The England international is also the first teenage midfielder to score in three consecutive Champions League games.

Karim Adeyemi made it 3-0 on the rebound two minutes from halftime and Sevilla's Youssef En-Nesyri cut the deficit six minutes after the restart before Julian Brandt's glancing header in the 75th made sure of the three points.

Dortmund, who host Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday, are second in the group on six points, three behind leaders Manchester City.

Copenhagen and Sevilla, who announced the departure of coach Julen Lopetegui minutes after the game, are on one point. The coach had been in charge since 2019.

Sevilla, struggling in 17th place in La Liga, missed several early chances through En-Nesyri and they were punished when Guerreiro struck with a superb shot.

The hosts, who have won just one of their 10 matches this season, had a golden double opportunity to level but Dortmund keeper Alexander Meyer pulled off a sensational save to thwart En-Nesyri's header.

Jose Angel Carmona fired over the bar from the resulting corner and it was Dortmund who scored again -- twice in three minutes -- through Bellingham and Adeyemi to leave Sevilla with a mountain to climb even after En-Nesyri's goal in the 51st minute.

Sevilla's pressure gradually eased off as the hosts ran out of steam and Dortmund found more space to attack. They got their fourth goal when Youssoufa Moukoko chipped the ball into the box for Brandt to head in.

As Dortmund players celebrated their win, Lopetegui left the pitch waving as the fans chanted his name.

Okafor penalty earns Salzburg win over Dinamo Zagreb

A second-half penalty from Noah Okafor earned FC Salzburg a 1-0 home win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and continued their unbeaten start in Group E.

The Swiss international netted in the 71st minute to send Salzburg provisionally top of the group with five points from three games, with Dinamo two points behind in third. Chelsea host AC Milan later on Wednesday.

A lively opening yielded chances for both teams as Josip Misic's effort from distance forced Salzburg goalkeeper Philipp Koehn into a fine save and Okafor struck the side-netting for the Austrian hosts.

Salzburg cranked up the pressure in the second half and were rewarded when Okafor sent Dominik Livakovic the wrong way with his spot-kick after Sadegh Moharrami had wrestled Andreas Ulmer to the ground.

The Croatian side could have levelled through Josip Drmic but the substitute fired straight at Koehn after a poor headed clearance from Strahinja Pavlovic had fallen to him.

Benjamin Sesko had a chance to kill the game but was denied by Livakovic before Drmic's header deep into stoppage time was ruled out for offside.

The sides meet again in Zagreb next Tuesday.