Haaland haunts Dortmund as Man City win

PARIS: Erling Haaland scored an acrobatic late winner against his old club as Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday, while there were hard-earned victories for Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

Meanwhile Chelsea were held by Red Bull Salzburg in their first match under new head coach Graham Potter, as Rangers lost heavily again and Celtic drew with Shakhtar Donetsk.

In Manchester, Haaland took on the club he left in the close season for 60 million euros ($60m, £52m) after two and a half prolific years in the Bundesliga.

Yet it looked like Dortmund might spring a surprise as they went ahead just before the hour mark at the Etihad Stadium when England midfielder Jude Bellingham headed in.

City’s equaliser did not come until Kevin De Bruyne set up John Stones to smash in with 10 minutes left, and Haaland got the winner in the 84th minute with an outrageous finish from Joao Cancelo’s magnificent cross.

Haaland now has 13 goals in nine games for City, who have two wins from two in Group G.

“In the end we showed what we are,” Haaland told BT Sport. “Dortmund were really good today (but) three points is what matters.”

City’s next two games will be against FC Copenhagen, who drew 0-0 with Sevilla in Denmark.

In London, Potter took charge of Chelsea for the first time but had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Salzburg in Group E, with Raheem Sterling’s opener early in the second half being cancelled out by Noah Okafor.

“It has not been easy for the boys, they have responded to us really well over the last few days and it’s a point we will have to take and get better,” Potter told BT Sport.

Earlier, group rivals AC Milan beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 at San Siro, with Olivier Giroud scoring a penalty before Alexis Saelemaekers and Tommaso Pobega added further goals either side of a Mislav Orsic strike for Dinamo.

The Scottish champions went ahead early on when Reo Hatate’s ball into the six-yard box went into the net off Artem Bondarenko.

But Shakhtar, playing European home games in Warsaw due to the war in Ukraine, equalised before the half-hour mark via an emphatic finish by Mykhailo Mudryk. Celtic had chances to win the game, none better than a late strike by Giorgos Giakoumakis that flashed agonisingly wide.

“We’ll get our rewards if we keep playing that kind of football and showing that kind of commitment,” said Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.

At least they have a point, in stark contrast to rivals Rangers who lost 3-0 at home to Napoli in Group A.

In a dramatic second half, Rangers had American defender James Sands sent off for conceding a penalty which Piotr Zielinski had saved, only for Matteo Politano to score the rebound.

However, the referee ordered a retake, and Allan McGregor saved from Zielinski again.

Rangers defied UEFA by playing “God save the King” before being undone by a red card to James Sands in a 3-0 defeat to Napoli at Ibrox on Wednesday.

The Scottish club ignored a decision by European football’s governing body to reject their request to use the national anthem ahead of kick-off as the late Queen Elizabeth II was honoured by a giant display from fans.

However, Rangers’ return to the Champions League after a 12-year absence is quickly turning into a nightmare as a week on from losing their opening group game 4-0 to Ajax, Napoli ran riot against 10 men in the second half.

The game turned 10 minutes into the second period when USA international Sands was shown a second yellow card for hauling down Giovanni Simeone inside the area.

Remarkably, Rangers’ 40-year-old goalkeeper Allan McGregor saved two Piotr Zielinski penalties after a retake was ordered for encroachment when Matteo Politano swept home the rebound from the first spot-kick.

The game had been postponed by 24 hours due to policing issues related to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and Rangers ignored a decision by UEFA to reject their request to play the British national anthem before kick-off.

Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to beat Maccabi Haifa 3-1 in Israel as their superstar front three all scored.

Suriname international Tjaronn Chery put the home side ahead only for Lionel Messi to equalise before the break.

Messi then set up Kylian Mbappe to make it 2-1 midway through the second half, and Neymar sealed a second win in as many Group H games for PSG. Juventus suffered a second straight defeat, though, as they lost 2-1 at home to Benfica.