Dimitar Berbatov scored his first two goals for Manchester United in a 3-0 Champions League victory at Aalborg yesterday, and Real Madrid rode its luck in a 2-1 victory at Zenit St. Petersburg.
Although Juventus came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at BATE Borisov, it fell two points behind Madrid. But Arsenal outplayed FC Porto 4-0 to jump above the Portuguese champion to the top of Group G.
Bayern Munich rallied for a 1-1 draw with Lyon to stay at the top of Group F by two points. Fiorentina and Steaua Bucharest drew 0-0.
After failing to score and win its first Group E game against Villarreal, defending champion Manchester United badly needed a victory at Aalborg.
Wayne Rooney ran onto a pass from Ryan Giggs to give United a 22nd-minute lead. Then Berbatov punished an appalling blunder by Aalborg captain Thomas Augustinussen, who played a backpass straight to him for an easy shot home.
Berbatov sent Cristiano Ronaldo's cross into the net for the third goal in the 80th.
Villarreal edged Celtic 1-0 to join United on four points in the group, the only goal coming from Marcos Senna's free kick in the 67th minute. Celtic and Aalborg have one points each.
Nine-time champion Real Madrid made it a maximum six points from two games by beating Zenit St. Petersburg, last season's UEFA Cup winner.
Madrid was fortunate to go ahead in the sixth minute when Tomas Hubocan sliced a cross into his own net.
Miguel Danny turned home a cross from Andrei Arshavin for the equalizer in the 25th minute but Ruud van Nistelrooy regained the lead for the Spanish champions in the 31st. Arshavin hit the post in the 78th and Zenit missed several more chances.
"Our opponent's class showed through," Arshavin said. "They capitalized on their chances, while we had many and did not score."
Goals by Sergei Kryvets and Igor Stasevich in the first 23 minutes threatened an upset by BATE Borisov against Juventus. But Vincenzo Iaquinta hit back with goals in the 29th and 45th minutes. Juventus has four points, BATE one and Zenit none.
Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor scored two goals each as Arsenal went above Porto to the top of Group G.
Van Persie scored the first and then Adebayor headed home Van Persie's corner in the 40th. Van Persie got the third with a low, left-foot shot in the 48th and Adebayor added the fourth with a 71st-minute penalty.
Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kiev drew 0-0, so Arsenal leads the standings with four points. Porto is next with three points, while Dynamo has two and Fenerbahce has one.
An own-goal by Martin Demichelis gave Lyon a 26th-minute lead at Bayern Munich, but the Bundesliga champions came back through Ze Roberto's header in the 52nd.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily October 1, 2008)