ROME, Oct 25: On a night of tributes for the late Bobby Charlton, Harry Maguire kept Manchester United in contention and fellow England standouts Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham each scored in the Champions League.
A second-half header from Maguire and then a penalty saved by Andre Onana in stoppage time secured a 1-0 win for United over FC Copenhagen to earn the English club its first points following consecutive losses.
Kane produced the crucial goal to help Bayern Munich earn its 16th straight win in the group stage with a 3-1 victory over Galatasaray, and Bellingham scored with a long-range shot for Real Madrid’s second in a 2-1 win at Braga on Tuesday.
Charlton, the former England and Manchester United star, died Saturday at age 86. In United’s first home match since his death, a lone piper playing the tune to the United anthem “We’ll Never Die” provided a moving soundtrack inside Old Trafford.
The piper led out United manager Erik ten Hag, Charlton’s former teammate Alex Stepney, and United youth-team captain Dan Gore onto the field ahead of United’s match against FC Copenhagen. They laid a wreath in the center circle before a minute of silence was observed.
Another rendition of “There’s only one Bobby Charlton” then swirled around the stadium to applause as fans paid their respects to one of England’s World Cup winners from 1966 who is widely considered United’s greatest player.
GROUP A
Bayern leads Group A with a perfect nine points at the halfway stage and hasn’t dropped a point in group play since 2020.
Galatasaray is next with four points, United has three and Copenhagen has one.
Kane made little impact until late in the second half for Bayern’s second goal. The England captain first tried a flashy backheel off Jamal Musiala’s low cross but the ball hit defender Sacha Boey. It then bounced favorably for Kane to score with his second effort in the 73rd.
Musiala then scored Bayern’s third.
Kingsley Coman had scored early for Bayern but the German team was under pressure from Galatasaray for much of the game.
In Manchester, Maguire had been criticized for his recent performances and he celebrated his goal emphatically and then formed a heart with his fingers.
GROUP B
Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus earned Arsenal a 2-1 win at Europa League champion Sevilla.
Martinelli has now scored in his first start for Arsenal in the Champions League, the Europa League (vs. Standard Liege), Premier League (vs. West Ham) and League Cup (vs. Nottingham Forest).
Lens and PSV Eindhoven drew 1-1 with Johan Bakayoko and Elye Wahi trading goals.
Arsenal leads the group with six points, followed by Lens (5), Sevilla (2) and PSV (2).
GROUP C
Bellingham scored his 11th goal in 12 matches since joining Madrid to help the 14-time European champion strengthen its lead in Group C.
Madrid has a full nine points. Napoli is next with six points after a 1-0 win at Union Berlin; Braga has three points and Berlin has none.
Rodrygo also scored for Madrid, which is trying to make it to the knockout rounds for the 28th consecutive time.
Giacomo Raspadori filled in for the injured Victor Osimhen at center forward and scored in Napoli’s victory.
Strong work from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia meant that Raspadori needed only one touch to redirect a pass from the Georgia dribbling wizard.
GROUP D
Brais Méndez scored again as Real Sociedad defeated Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon to hand last season’s quarterfinalist a third straight defeat.
Surprise starter Alexis Sánchez set Inter Milan on its way to a 2-1 victory over Salzburg to boost the Nerazzurri’s chances of reaching the knockout stages.
Sánchez scored in the 19th minute for the veteran forward’s first goal since returning to the club in the offseason. Oscar Gloukh briefly levelled for Salzburg but Hakan Çalhanoğlu scored what proved to be the winner from the penalty spot in the 64th minute.
Real Sociedad and Inter each have seven points to top the group. Salzburg is next with three points and Benfica has none. (AP)
