Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid beat Juventus 2-1 at the Bernabeu to keep their 100 percent record at the top of Group B.
Los Blancos produced a far from convincing performance even
after Giorgio Chiellini was given a straight red card on 48 minutes
after throwing an arm into the face of Ronaldo.
The Portuguese forward gave Madrid the lead four
minutes into the game but Spanish striker Fernando Llorente equalised
after 23 minutes before Ronaldo restored the hosts' lead five minutes
later from a disputed penalty.
Galatasaray eased to a 3-1 victory over FC Copenhagen with three first-half goals enough to secure a win which keeps their qualification hopes alive.
Felipe Melo, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba all found the net in a largely one-sided match between two sides trying to hang on the coat-tails of Real Madrid and Juventus.
Such was Galatasaray's dominance that it could, and
perhaps should, have been more, but Roberto Mancini's men looked to take
their foot off the pedal in the second half with the points secure.
There was time for Domingues Claudemir to get a late
consolation for the visitors, but it will bring little comfort on the
journey home.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic continued his extraordinary goalscoring run with four goals as Paris St Germain thumped Anderlecht 5-0 in Brussels.
Ibrahimovic completed his first Champions League
hat-trick in a devastating 18-minute spell before half-time to ensure
the French champions easily maintained their perfect record in Group C.
Edinson Cavani got in on the act after half-time,
thanks to a defensive blunder, before Ibrahimovic joined an elite group
of players to score four times in a Champions League match. The Sweden
striker has now scored 10 goals in his past five games for club and
country.
The goal that completed his hat-trick was the pick of
the bunch, and loomed as an early contender for goal of the season.
After Gregory van der Wiel had set-up his opening two goals, Ibrahimovic
took it upon himself to claim his third as he smashed an unstoppable
30-yard volley into the top corner.
Oscar Cardozo bundled home a late equaliser for Benfica as Jorge Jesus's side salvaged a 1-1 draw with Olympiakos in Portugal.
Alejandro Dominguez had given the visitors a
29th-minute lead in torrential rain at the Stadium of Light and the
Greek side clung on until seven minutes from time when Cardozo struck.
The result leaves both teams locked together on four
points in the group having overcome Anderlecht and been well beaten by
group leaders PSG in their opening games.
Wayne Rooney proved the inspiration behind a crucial 1-0 win for Manchester United over Real Sociedad in Group A.
Rooney, who celebrates his 28th birthday on Thursday,
slalomed through the visitors' defence in the second minute of a
thrilling European tie. And while what proved to be the winning goal was
turned into his own net by Inigo Martinez, the credit was all Rooney's
as it was his shot that cannoned off a post and into the hapless
defender.
Even without Robin van Persie, who missed out with sore toes, United should have been clear long before the end.
Rooney had four more opportunities, and Shinji Kagawa
-- making a rare start -- two. Phil Jones' header was turned away,
Javier Hernandez had a goal disallowed for offside and Antonio Valencia
struck a post.
So, if Antoine Griezmann or Alberto de la Bella had
been slightly more accurate when they hit the woodwork, a nervous panic
might have swept round the stadium.
The result means United now have seven points, just
three short of the number Sir Alex Ferguson always felt guaranteed
qualification for the last 16.
Stefan Kiessling shrugged off the controversy over his 'ghost' goal to score twice in a 4-0 thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk which put Bayer Leverkusen in a strong position to progress.
Five days after he got the winner against Hoffenheim in
the Bundesliga with a header which went through a hole in the
side-netting, the striker started and completed the scoring with two
legitimate efforts.
He got the Germans up and running with a header midway
through the first half and tapped home a fourth 19 minutes from time as
they ran riot after the break.
Simon Rolfes had doubled the lead from the penalty spot
shortly after half-time and Sidney Sam quickly added a third as the
Ukrainians were swept aside.
The win moved Bayer above their Group A rivals at the halfway stage, lifting them up to second.
Sergio Aguero struck twice in Russia to push Manchester City towards the knockout stages with a 2-1 win over CSKA Moscow.
The Argentinian continued his rich vein of form with a
quickfire double to settle a tricky Group D encounter after former
Manchester United player Zoran Tosic opened the scoring.
Despite coping well with the much-criticised Khimki
Arena pitch, City squandered a number of chances to make the game safe
and were left hanging on, with Joe Hart saving saving from Keisuke Honda
at the death.
But they survived CSKA's late rally and exerted enough
control overall to suggest they could all but secure a last-16 spot with
a repeat win at the Etihad Stadium in a fortnight.
On a sour note, however, it did sound as if some monkey-chanting was directed at Yaya Toure from a section of the home support.
Bayern Munich continued the perfect defence of their title as they produced a stunning attacking display to beat Viktoria Plzen 5-0 at the Allianz Arena.
The Bundesliga champions could have been out of sight
by half-time but had only a Franck Ribery penalty and a David Alaba goal
to show for their efforts.
But two goals in three minutes from Ribery and Bastian
Schweinsteiger and a late strike from Mario Goetze moved Pep Guardiola's
men three points clear at the top.
