UCL Roundup: Vinicius inspires Real Madrid’s 5-2 fightback victory over Dortmund

Vinicius Junior scored a hat-trick as title holders Real Madrid fought from two goals down to beat Borussia Dortmund 5-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Antonio Rüdiger’s header in the 60th, Vinicius Junior two minutes later, Lucas Vazquez in the 83rd and Vinicius Junior with a stunning solo in the 86th and in stoppage time clinched victory for the Spanish side.

The final result had appeared unlikely at half-time when Dortmund led 2-0 from Donyell Malen and Jamie Bynoe Gittens.

The record 15-time champions Real prevailed like in last season’s final they had won 2-0 against Dortmund at Wembley.

Real rebounded from a 1-0 defeat against Lille and have six points, the same as Dortmund who dropped their first points in their late collapse, after having won their first two games.

“We changed formation, but also the dynamics in the second half. This is our competition and make no mistake we want to win it again,” Vinicius Junior told Movistar.

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Scrappy Arsenal edge 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk

Arsenal needed an own goal to seal a scrappy 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday as they made it two wins out of three in the Champions League.

The win is is coming after the blow of their first domestic league defeat of the season at the weekend.

The hosts missed a penalty in the second half and squandered a number of decent chances, but the reality was they never found top gear and had to withstand some late pressure from their Ukrainian opponents.

Arsenal, who were beaten 2-0 by Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday, made a fast start with Brazilians Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus both having good opportunities before a fortunate opener in the 29th minute.

A low shot from Martinelli rebounded off the post and off the back of Shakhtar keeper Dmytro Riznyk for what turned out to be the only goal of the game.

Arsenal would have doubled their advantage before halftime were it not for Shakhtar captain Mykola Matviyenko who hooked the ball off the line to prevent a diving Kai Havertz nodding in.

Leandro Trossard also missed a second-half penalty awarded by VAR following a handball in the box.

The Ukrainian side went close to equalising, when substitute Pedrinho had a long-range effort superbly saved by Arsenal keeper David Raya in stoppage time.

“I think we deserved an equaliser” Shakhtar coach Marino Pusic told reporters. “We were chasing for an equaliser till the end of the game… we did our best”.

Victory lifts Arsenal provisionally into the top four of the new 36-team league phase before Wednesday’s fixtures with their next match away at Inter Milan.

Shakhtar will seek to bounce back in their next match at home to Swiss side Young Boys.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa secured another impressive 2-0 victory over Bologna, while Juventus suffered a surprise lone goal defeat to Stuttgart.

Other notable results included Milan’s victory over Club Brugge and Monaco’s big win against Crvena Zvezda.

Matchday 3 Tuesday results

Milan 3-1 Club Brugge
Monaco 5-1 Crvena Zvezda
Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar
Aston Villa 2-0 Bologna
Girona 2-0 S. Bratislava
Juventus 0-1 Stuttgart
Paris 1-1 PSV
Real Madrid 5-2 B. Dortmund
Sturm Graz 0-2 Sporting CP

Reuters/NAN