Chelsea, Barca earn draws, Inter stay perfect

AP:

SUBSTITUTE ALEJANDRO Garnacho scored a second-half goal as Chelsea drew 2-2 at Qarabag in the Champions League yesterday.

Chelsea’s Estevao, the man of the match, opened the scoring in the 16th minute, but the hosts from Azerbaijan rallied with goals from Leandro Andrade in the 29th and a penalty by Marko Jankovic in the 39th.

Garnacho struck in the 53rd for Chelsea, who were coming off Champions League victories over Ajax and Benfica after opening the league phase with a loss at leaders Bayern Munich.

In the other early game, Pafos earned their first-ever league-phase win by beating Spanish club Villarreal 1-0 at home in Cyprus.

Villarreal, back in the Champions League for the first time since reaching the semi-finals in 2022, remain winless after four matches.

In other games yesterday, Inter Milan remained among the teams with a perfect record by beating Kairat 2-1, while Barcelona were held at Club Brugge and Erling Haaland extended his scoring streak in Manchester City’s 4-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund.

Lautaro Martínez and Carlos Augusto scored a goal in each half for last year’s runners-up Inter, who joined Bayern Munich and Arsenal as the only teams with four victories from four matches.

Kairat, the Kazakhstan club that remains among the winless teams in the league phase, equalised with Ofri Arad early in the second half before Augusto gave the hosts the victory.

Barcelona came from behind three times in their draw at Club Brugge, with Lamine Yamal being decisive in the team’s comeback in Belgium. He scored in the 61st and it was his shot in the 77th that led to an own-goal by Club Brugge midfielder Christos Tzolis for the 3-3 score.

Phil Foden netted twice for Man City, while Haaland scored his 27th goal in 17 matches for club and country this season. The Norway striker has scored 14 times in his last nine games. Only twice he failed to score in a game this season.

José Mourinho’s Benfica lost 1-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen for their fourth straight loss in the league phase. Ajax also picked up their fourth consecutive loss after a 3-0 defeat to Galatasaray at home.

Newcastle beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at St James’ Park.

Champions League Results

Pafos 1-0 Villarreal

Quarabag 2-2 Chelsea

Man City 4-1 Dortmund

Newcastle 2-0 Athletic Bilbao

Ajax 0-3 Galatasaray

Club Brugge 3-3 Barcelona

Benfica 0-1 Leverkusen

Inter 2-1 Kairat

Marseille 0-1 Atalanta