Football

Real Madrid down Braga; Arsenal, United win

Real Madrid's Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham scored in each half to secure a 2-1 win at Sporting Braga and keep their side three points clear atop Champions League Group C on Tuesday.

Sentinel Digital Desk

MADRID: Real Madrid's Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham scored in each half to secure a 2-1 win at Sporting Braga and keep their side three points clear atop Champions League Group C on Tuesday.

It was an affair that won't live long the memory on a cold rainy day in northern Portugal in which the Spanish giants dominated from the start and opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a close-range strike by Rodrygo.

Jet-heeled Vinicius Jr flew up the left wing and put the ball on a plate for his fellow Brazilian to tap in with a sliding first touch from inside the six-yard box.

Wasteful Real missed several chances to extend their lead mainly through Vinicius who was often caught offside playing on the shoulder of an extremely high Braga defensive line.

But they managed to score again in the 61st when Rodrygo beat the offside trap and found Vinicius ghosting behind the defence on the left.

He collected the through ball and passed to Bellingham who, from the edge of the box, slotted an effortless curling strike just inside the far post.

It was Bellingham's 10th goal in 11 games in all competitions this season as he became only the second Real Madrid player to score in each of his first three Champions League games after Christian Karembeu in 1998.

Braga did pull one back when Alvaro Djalo took advantage of a defensive mistake in the 63rd to score in the area but Real held on despite late pressure for their third win in three games thanks to two brilliant save by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Real are top on nine points ahead of Napoli, who eked out a 1-0 win at bottom side Union Berlin with the Germans yet to earn a point. Braga are in third place on three points.

Maguire, Onana lift United to victory

Harry Maguire headed a second-half goal and goalkeeper Andre Onana saved a penalty deep in stoppage time to power Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday for their first victory in the Champions League this season.

Back in the competition after a one-year absence, Ten Hag's side moved into third place in Group A after collecting a precious three points after three games. Bayern Munich top the group with nine points after beating Galatasary 3-1 earlier.

The victory looked in doubt when Copenhagen's Jordan Larsson - son of former Celtic striker Henrik - stepped up to the spot after Scott McTominay attempted a clearance and caught Elias Achouri in the head with a high boot in the 94th minute. But Onana dived to his left to push the shot away before being mobbed by team mates at the final whistle.

United travel to Copenhagen on November 8.

Bayern survive Galatasaray pressure

Bayern Munich soaked up intense pressure from Galatasaray for more than 70 minutes before striking twice to carve out a 3-1 victory on Tuesday that kept them firmly top of their Champions League Group A.

The Bavarians, top on nine points, with the Turks in second on four, unusually found themselves on the back foot with Galatasaray carving out 20 attacks to their six with the two sides locked at 1-1 after goals in the opening half hour.

However, Bayern striker Harry Kane scored in the 73rd minute and Jamal Musiala added another six minutes later to snap their opponents' 23-match unbeaten run across all competitions.

The Turks, brimming with confidence from their win at Manchester United in the previous matchday, showed no signs of nerves against their more illustrious opponents and had a chance with Mauro Icardi after four minutes.

The visitors silenced the fiery home crowd with Kingsley Coman rifling in for the lead in the eighth minute. Goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, however, had to come to the rescue only a minute later, spectacularly palming a Kerem Akturkoglu shot wide.

In a frantic first half, Akturkoglu then missed a golden chance to level when Ulreich cleared a cutback into his path but the 25-year-old fired over the bar with the keeper beaten.

The hosts' pressure, however, paid off in the 30th when Icardi was brought down in the box. The Argentine coolly chipped his Panenka-style penalty into the middle of the goal as Ulreich dived to the side.

In an equally pacy start to the second half, the Turks had the lion's share of chances once more with Bayern defending desperately.

The hosts, however, started running out of steam after failing to score again and Bayern grew in confidence, with Kane attempting to flick in with a backheel before slotting in on the rebound in the 73rd.

That goal unlocked the game for Bayern, who were missing several players through injury, and they added another with Musiala to seal their hard-earned win.

They are now unbeaten in a competition-record 37 straight Champions League group stage matches.

Manchester United face FC Copenhagen in the other group game later.

Martinelli, Jesus steer Arsenal to victory

Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus scored either side of halftime as Arsenal completed a 2-1 Champions League victory at Sevilla on Tuesday, a hard-fought win that takes them to the top of Group B at the midway point of the pool stage.

Martinelli raced clear from his own half to score the opener four minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first period as he completed a lightning break, before Jesus added a second goal shortly after halftime.

Sevilla offered little in the first half and were much improved after the break as they pulled a goal back when Nemanja Gudelj headed home, but the equaliser they so desperately sought eluded them despite some near misses.

Arsenal top the group with six points from their three games. Lens are in second place with five points, followed by Sevilla and PSV Eindhoven with two each.

Mikel Arteta's side never had complete control of the contest despite taking a 2-0 lead.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard fired over the bar early in the second period but the London side did manage a second goal on 53 minutes.

Jesus curled in a shot from a narrow angle to keep up his record of having scored in every Champions League group game so far this season.

The visitors needed that insurance goal too as Sevilla pulled one back five minutes later when Gudelj headed home from a corner.

The home side had several chances to score again but some scrambling defence and a late miss from Ocampos allowed Arsenal to hold on. Agencies

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