Paris: Andre Schuerrle smashed in a late equaliser as Borussia Dortmund held Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Leicester City claimed another famous European victory.
Premier League champions Leicester made it two wins from two in their debut Champions League campaign as Islam Slimani’s first-half goal secured a 1-0 win against FC Porto, and it was a good night all round for English clubs as Tottenham Hotspur beat CSKA Moscow in Russia.
Reigning champions Real twice surrendered the lead as they settled for a 2-2 draw against Dortmund to extend their poor record on German soil.
In a tremendous Group F game played at breathless pace, Zinedine Zidane’s side went in front in the 17th minute when Gareth Bale’s back-heel came off Matthias Ginter and fell for Cristiano Ronaldo to fire home.
It was the Portuguese superstar’s 98th European goal but Dortmund had been in fearsome form ahead of this showdown and they drew level just before the interval.
Making his first appearance of the season after injury, Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas opted to punch a Raphael Guerreiro free-kick and the ball struck the face of his team-mate Raphael Varane before rebounding into the net.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was standing in close quarters, and he was officially credited with the goal by UEFA.
However, French centre-back Varane made up for that by restoring Real’s advantage midway through the second half, following in to score after Karim Benzema’s attempt had hit both the post and bar.
But there was to be no first win in Dortmund for Real as substitute Schuerrle rifled a shot into the roof of the net after a Christian Pulisic cross fell to him on the edge of the box.
“I am gutted for the players, we didn’t deserve that. In the end it’s not a bad result but, playing like that, gutted,” said Zidane.
Madrid have won just four times in 30 away games against German clubs but this result still leaves them in control of Group F.
In the other game in the section, first-half goals by Bryan Ruiz and Bas Dost gave Sporting a 2-0 victory against Legia Warsaw in Portugal.
Leicester have maximum points after two matches in Group G after edging out two-time European champions Porto at the King Power Stadium.
Algerian striker Slimani, a club record £28 million ($36.3 million, 32.3 million euros) summer signing from Sporting, struck on 25 minutes, heading past Iker Casillas from a Riyad Mahrez cross.
“I spoke with Riyad (Mahrez) and Islam and said, ‘Come on guys, make something good tonight.’ And they made a pass, assist, goal. It was good,” said Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri.
Next up for Leicester will be FC Copenhagen, who were impressive 4-0 winners at home to Club Brugge in the Danish capital.
All the goals came in the second half, with a Stefano Denswil own-goal setting the home side on their way before Ludwig Augustinsson had a penalty saved, but further counters came from captain Thomas Delaney, Federico Santander and Mathias Jxrgensen.
Juventus romp
Tottenham bounced back from a 2-1 defeat to Monaco in their Group E opener by beating CSKA 1-0 in Moscow to claim three points from an awkward trip to the Russian capital.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were without Harry Kane, Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier, Danny Rose and Moussa Sissoko against the Russian champions but the in-form Son Heung-min was there and he made the difference.
The South Korean winger, scorer of a brace in a 2-1 Premier League win at Middlesbrough at the weekend, netted the only goal of the game on 71 minutes at the Arena CSKA, his shot squirming under ‘keeper Igor Akinfeev and in.
“It was very important for us to get three points here as we were in a must-win position,” said Pochettino.
It is Monaco who top the section, though, after Kamil Glik volleyed home in injury time to cancel out Javier Hernandez’s opener and secure a 1-1 home draw with Bayer Leverkusen.
Meanwhile, 2015 runners-up Juventus notched their first win in Group H, ruthlessly dispatching Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 in Croatia.
Summer signings Miralem Pjanic and Gonzalo Higuain scored in the first half for the Italian champions before a searing Paulo Dybala strike and a deflected Dani Alves free-kick embellished their lead after the break.
Sevilla, who had held Juve in Turin last time out, beat Lyon 1-0 in Spain as French striker Wissam Ben Yedder headed in the only goal of the game in the second half.
Luciano Vietto later blazed a penalty over, although Nabil Fekir and Corentin Tolisso both hit the bar for the visitors.
