Liverpool, Barca, Bayern win but Chelsea lose

AP:

AFTER LEAVING Mohamed Salah in England, Liverpool got a much-needed boost with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League yesterday while Barcelona and Bayern Munich celebrated comeback wins and Chelsea lost.

With Salah out of the squad following his public criticism of the club last week, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up instead to score the 88th-minute penalty, which earned a 1-0 win over one of the competition’s best-performing teams.

It was all the more valuable after a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Arne Slot’s under-pressure team, which moved up to eighth.

Liverpool’s players thought they had taken the lead with Ibrahima Konate’s header in the 31st minute, but after a video review that lasted more than four minutes, it was ruled out for handball as Virgil van Dijk had, earlier, nodded the ball on to the arm of Hugo Ekitike.

Having taken away a goal from Liverpool, VAR came to the visitors’ aid when it spotted that Alessandro Bastoni had tugged Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the area, with the midfielder flailing to the ground. Szoboszlai converted the penalty.

Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder, Lennart Karl, produced an audacious bit of skill to continue his high-scoring start to life in the Champions League in a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon earlier.

Karl scored his third goal in four career Champions League games, controlling a pass from Konrad Laimer in mid-air before volleying a shot from a tight angle over two onrushing defenders and past the goalkeeper.

It was part of a 12-minute, three-goal turnaround for Bayern after Joshua Kimmich’s own-goal handed Sporting the lead after João Simões put Bayern under pressure on the counter.

Serge Gnabry levelled for Bayern when he was left unmarked at a corner in the 65th before Karl scored Bayern’s second in the 69th and defender Jonathan Tah made it 3-1 in the 77th.

Widely viewed as German football’s best young talent this season, Karl became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer in October on his first start in the competition.

Davies return

Late on, Alphonso Davies came off the bench for the Canadian left back’s first game since March after a serious knee injury.

Chelsea were beaten in the Champions League for the first time in nearly three months as Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere set up the equaliser and scored an 83rd-minute winner as Atalanta came from behind to win 2-1.

Chelsea, who went ahead through Joao Pedro, dropped out of the top eight automatic qualifying spots with their second loss.

It was a fourth win for Atalanta, who climbed to third and is the highest-placed Italian team.

Gianluca Scamacca made it 1-1 by heading home a cross from De Ketelaere, who then drove in a shot that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.

Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Marcus Rashford assisted in the first goal in the 50th and Lamine Yamal in the second in the 53rd.

The visitors had taken the lead with a goal by Ansgar Knauff in a 21st-minute breakaway at the renovated Camp Nou stadium, which still can’t hold full capacity.

Yesterday’s Results

Kairat 0-1 Olympiacos

Bayern 3-1 Sporting

Atalanta 2-1 Chelsea

Monaco 1-0 Galatasaray

Union Saint-Gilloise 2-3 Marseille

PSV 2-3 Atletico Madrid

Barca 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

Inter 0-1 Liverpool

Tottenham 3-0 Slavia Praha