On Tuesday, both Chelsea and Arsenal failed to turn around the fortunes of English clubs in Europe, maintaining a miserable streak for clubs from the Premier League. So, last night Manchester City and Manchester United were left to give English fans something to shout about – but did they manage to be more successful than their Premier League compatriots?
While it might not have been as comfortable as they would have hoped for, they did manage to add a smile to the faces of English football fans. Both Manchester teams came away with 2-1 victories, however one suffered an early scare, while the other had to rely on a last gasp penalty…
Manchester United had the task of hosting the Bundesliga’s VfL Wolfsburg – a tricky tie, although one they should have won on paper. Things didn’t start well though, as Wolfsburg’s Caligiuri put the ball into the United net after just four minutes. It seemed that English clubs’ luck in the Champions League wasn’t getting any better. Parity was regained on 34 minutes though, as Wolfsburg’s goalscorer handled in the box, and Juan Mata ran up to score from the penalty spot.
Perhaps the biggest talking point of the first half was Wayne Rooney’s miss though, as he failed to hit the target from nine yards. It hasn’t been the best start to the season for United’s star man – will he return to form soon though? His blushes were eventually spared though, as Chris Smalling scored in the 53rd minute and United hung on to claim a win.
Manchester City also had German opposition, as they travelled to Borussia Monchengladbach. Joe Hart was their hero in the first half, as he stopped a penalty from Raffael. All the goalscoring action was to come in the second half though…
It was Monchengladbach who took the lead through Stindl, however City hit back with a goal from Nicolas Otamendi – although the ball had clearly crossed the line prior to him lashing it home. The score then stayed at 1-1 until the final minutes, when Aguero was brought down in the area. The Argentine stepped up to score the penalty and give City their first win of this year’s competition.
Elsewhere in Europe, there was some momentous news for Real Madrid fans. While their 2-0 win away to Malmo didn’t set the tournament alight, Cristiano Ronaldo scored both goals, and therefore became the club’s all-time joint leading goalscorer, alongside Raul. Now the question is this: how many more can he score for the club?
