London: Superstar forwards Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé were both on target Wednesday to help boost their teams’ chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stage.
Haaland scored twice in defending champion Manchester City’s 3-1 win at Young Boys in Group G, while Mbappé set Paris Saint-Germain on the way to a crucial 3-0 home victory over AC Milan in Group F.
That broke a scoring drought in the competition for Haaland, who has nine in as many Premier League matches this season. Mbappé has eight in eight Ligue 1 games and also netted in PSG’s Champions League opener.
City now just needs to beat the same opponent in two weeks’ time to book its place in the last 16. Barcelona is in a similar situation after a 2-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk maintained a perfect start to its Champions League campaign too.
PSG leads a group that is getting ever tighter and leaves Milan, last season’s semifinalist, with the prospect of not even qualifying for the Europa League as a consolation.
GROUP E
Feyenoord is in position to advance in its first time back in the group stage in six seasons.
Santiago Gimenez scored twice and Ramiz Zerrouki also found the target as the Dutch champion beat visiting Lazio 3-1.
Feyenoord moved a point ahead of Atlético Madrid, which was surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw at Celtic. Lazio was a point behind Atlético and three above Celtic.
Antoine Griezmann and Álvaro Morata scored a goal in each half as Atlético had to twice come from behind to salvage the away draw. Celtic scored before halftime through Kyogo Furuhashi and Luis Palma.
Atlético played the last seven minutes with 10 men after midfielder Rodrigo de Paul was sent off following a second yellow card.
GROUP F
PSG bounced back from its 4-1 humiliation at Newcastle to move top of its group.
France forwards Mbappé and Randal Kolo Muani scored either side of halftime. Teen midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery set up two goals, including PSG’s third for South Korea winger Lee Kang-in near the end.
PSG moved two points clear of Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle after the German team won 1-0 at St. James’ Park.
Felix Nmecha turned in Nico Schlotterbeck’s cross in the 45th minute to hand the Saudi-owned English team a first loss on its return to the competition after 20 years away.
Seven-time champion Milan still has not won or scored in Group F and slipped four points behind PSG.
GROUP G
Haaland hadn’t scored in his previous five matches in the competition, stretching back to last season’s semifinals in May, but he ended that improbable run by blasting a spot kick down the middle in the 67th to put City 2-1 ahead.
The Norway striker wrapped up the victory by curling a shot into the top corner in the 86th minute for his 37th goal in 33 Champions League games.
Manuel Akanji had given City the lead in the 48th, only for the titleholders to concede four minutes later through Meschack Elia.
City moved onto nine points, three clear of second-place Leipzig after the German team beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1.
Xavi Simons, who is on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, set up David Raum’s opener in the 12th minute and curled a spectacular second into the top-right corner from outside the box in the 59th.
Dani Olmo sealed the result late on after Marko Stamenic had pulled one back for Red Star.
Young Boys and Red Star were both on a point.
GROUP H
Five-time European champion Barcelona remained on course to advance to the knockout round after two straight group-stage eliminations.
Ferran Torres and Fermín López scored first-half goals for Barcelona, which hasn’t advanced past the group stage since Lionel Messi left in 2021.
The Catalan club has three more points than second-place Porto, which won 4-1 at Antwerp thanks to a second-half hat trick from substitute Evanilson.
Antwerp, which had taken a surprise lead, remained pointless. Shakhtar was six points below Barcelona.