Paris: Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday after a 2-3 defeat at Wolfsburg, as the Germans punched their ticket to the last 16 along with Group ‘B’ rivals PSV Eindhoven.
Louis van Gaal’s United made a promising start at the Volkswagen Arena as Anthony Martial handed them a 10th-minute lead but the Red Devils’ poor defending at set-pieces cost them dearly with Naldo equalising shortly after.
Julian Draxler set up Vieirinha to round off a sublime team move and put Wolfsburg 2-1 ahead just before the half hour. But United clawed their way back into the game eight minutes from time when Josuha Guilavogui headed into his own net.
However, Naldo grabbed his second of the night shortly after as he headed home a corner to consign United to a third-place finish and a spot in the last 32 of the Europa League.
There were unsettling scenes after the final whistle in Wolfsburg, though, as fans were forced to stay inside the ground until the all-clear was given after a suspect package was found in the stadium’s car park.
In the Netherlands, it had looked for a short time as if CSKA Moscow could spare United’s blushes when Sergey Ignashevich converted a 76th-minute penalty to put CSKA 1-0 up against PSV. But the Dutch side hit back just two minutes later through Luuk de Jong and completed the turnaround with five minutes to play as Davy Propper earned the home side a 2-1 victory.
Manchester City wrested away top spot from Juventus in Group ‘D’ as Manuel Pellegrini’s side claimed a thrilling 4-2 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach, while last year’s finalists succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at Sevilla.
Cristiano Ronaldo smashed his own pool stage scoring record as he netted four times in a crushing 8-0 victory over Malmo in Group ‘A’. The Portuguese star’s tally of 11 goals in this season’s group campaign surpassed the previous mark of nine set by himself in 2013/14 and Luiz Adriano for Shakhtar Donetsk last season. Troubled French striker Karim Benzema also scored his first hat-trick for five years, while Mateo Kovacic added his first goal for the Spanish giants.
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