European Roundup: Madrid, City, and Villa Secure Opening Victories
On Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid capitalised on two key Inter Milan errors to win 2-1 in the Champions League. Thibaut Courtois kept a clean sheet by blocking constant attacks. In Portugal, Erling Haaland scored twice to give Manchester City a 2-0 victory over Porto. Jose Mourinho had led the team to the European title in 2010. Inter had 64 per cent of the possession and compelled Courtois to make several important saves. The visitors lost the game because of defensive mistakes. Yann Bisseck lost the ball to Brahim Diaz when under pressure, and Diaz then passed it to Kylian Mbappe, who struck a low shot through the goalkeeper to put the team ahead. Later, Martinez, who played as goalkeeper for Inter, tried to dribble inside his own penalty area and was intercepted by Federico Valverde, who then sent the ball into the net. Carlos Augusto scored in the 76th minute after Lautaro Martinez crossed the ball. Real Madrid kept their lead and won three points. Valverde declined any praise after the match. Valverde told Movistar Plus that, although they had played a great first half, he did not think he deserved today’s man of the match award, since Courtois had earned it with an outstanding performance.  Manchester City dominated Porto and kept coach Enzo Maresca's record of winning all his matches. They had 70 per cent possession and took 20 shots, 10 of them on target, while Porto managed not to make a single attempt. Manchester City were in complete control. Haaland scored the first goal just two minutes after the half-hour mark, heading in a cross from Enzo Fernandez into the top corner. He then scored a second goal in stoppage time after receiving a pass from Rayan Ait-Nouri. Maresca told Amazon Prime that they might have scored more goals, particularly in the first half, but that overall he thought they had deserved to win the match. Three of the other matches also ended 3-2. Real Betis came back to beat Lille in France, with goals from Marc Bartra and Troy Parrott, who scored the winner. After a video review, Lille were left with Ethan Mbappe sent off for an elbow on Natan.  In Germany, Serhou Guirassy scored two goals towards the end of the match to secure a victory for Borussia Dortmund against Villarreal. Renato Veiga accidentally scored an own goal in the 53rd minute, putting Dortmund in the lead. Villarreal equalised with a header in the 66th minute. In the 80th minute, Guirassy scored after a pass from Fabio Silva and then converted a penalty four minutes later. He then scored an own goal in added time. Although your attention may have been on the major clubs, Aston Villa managed an impressive victory against Club Brugge in Belgium. Pau Torres provided two assists. John McGinn scored the opening goal in the 11th minute. Hugo Vetlesen equalised eight minutes later. Emiliano Buendia gave Aston Villa the lead again following a pass by Joao Gomes. Nicolas Jackson scored just before the break to make it 3-1. Nicolo Tresoldi then scored a penalty for Brugge in the 61st minute, but Aston Villa held on to their lead. AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0, with Razvan Marin scoring a free kick in the 21st minute that curled into the top corner.
