Hugo Ekitike scored against his old club as Liverpool got back on track with a 5-1 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday while Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were among the night’s other winners.
The Anfield side came into their trip to Germany reeling after a run of four consecutive defeats which included a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in their last Champions League outing.
They bounced back in style by coming from behind to hammer Eintracht, who suffered a second straight 5-1 defeat in Europe – having started their Champions League campaign with a 5-1 win.
Rasmus Kristensen gave the hosts the lead but Ekitike broke away to equalise against the team he left in July in a £79 million ($105.5m) deal.
Virgil van Dijk headed the visitors in front at a corner on 39 minutes and Ibrahima Konate made it 3-1 before the interval in almost identical fashion.
Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai added further goals in the second half as Liverpool moved up to 10th in the 36-team league phase standings.
“I don’t know if it’s a statement but it is a win and something to build on,” Van Dijk told broadcaster TNT Sports.
Kane scores again
Chelsea won by the same scoreline against Ajax at Stamford Bridge, in a match which featured an early red card and three first-half penalties.
Kenneth Taylor was sent off for the Dutch visitors before Marc Guiu and Moises Caicedo scored for the Premier League side.
Wout Weghorst pulled one back from the spot for Ajax but Enzo Fernandez and Estevao both converted penalties before half-time for Chelsea.
Tyrique George rounded off the scoring in the second half as for the first time in Champions League history three teenagers scored for the same team.
“We trust a lot of young players,” said Maresca after the goals for Guiu, Estevao and George. “That is the strategy of the club, but not only the ones that we buy. Also the ones from the academy.”
Chelsea have now won their last two European outings since beginning their campaign with a 3-1 defeat at Bayern.
Ajax, meanwhile, are bottom of the standings as one of only two teams without a point after three games – the other is Jose Mourinho’s Benfica.
Bayern are one of five teams with the maximum nine points as Harry Kane scored his 20th goal in 12 club appearances this season in a 4-0 cruise against Club Brugge at the Allianz Arena.
Lennart Karl, 17, got the opener before Kane, Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson also hit the target for the Bundesliga champions.
Madrid also have nine points following a hard-earned 1-0 victory against Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu as England captain Kane’s compatriot Jude Bellingham scored for the first time this season.
The goal came just before the hour mark, with Bellingham converting the rebound after Vinicius hit the upright. Juventus have now gone seven games without a win.
“I’m very happy with the win, it was a very tough game with chances at both ends and we had to sweat for it, but it was an important win against a big team,” Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told Movistar.
Spurs draw with Monaco
Tottenham Hotspur became the only one of England’s six representatives to fail to win this midweek as they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Monaco.
In Lisbon, Portuguese champions Sporting came from behind to defeat Marseille 2-1 in a game which hinged on a red card in first-half stoppage time.
Igor Paixao’s stunner put Marseille ahead, but Emerson Palmieri was dismissed for a second yellow for diving after a decision to award him a penalty was overturned.
Sporting used the extra man to equalise in the second half through Geny Catamo before Alisson Santos got their winner.
Nigeria superstar Victor Osimhen netted twice as Galatasaray beat Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in Istanbul, with Yunus Akgun scoring their other goal before Andreas Helmersen pulled one back.
Athletic Bilbao beat Qarabag of Azerbaijan 3-1 at San Mames, coming from behind after Leandro Andrade had given the visitors a first-minute lead. Gorka Guruzeta bagged a brace for the Basque side either side of a Robert Navarro goal.
Atalanta and Slavia Prague drew 0-0 in the night’s other game.
The next round of Champions League action in a fortnight will include clashes between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern, and Liverpool and Real.
