Liverpool fought back from two goals down to claim a dramatic 4-3 victory over Villarreal on Tuesday, while Phil Foden scored his first UEFA Champions League hat trick as Manchester City defeated AEK Athens 5-1 on Matchday 3.
The Spanish visitors stunned Liverpool at Anfield in the fourth minute when Georges Mikautadze capitalized on Virgil van Dijk’s misplaced header and finished past Alisson Becker.
Villarreal doubled their advantage in the 29th minute as Nicolas Saliba’s through ball caught Liverpool’s defense out of position, allowing Sergi Cardona to slot the ball into the bottom left corner.
However, Liverpool began their comeback seven minutes later through Alexis Mac Allister, who headed home Kostas Tsimikas’ cross following a corner.
The Reds completed their first-half recovery in stoppage time when Rio Ngumoha delivered a cross to the far post, where Ronald Araujo headed home to make it 2-2.
Liverpool took the lead for the first time in the 65th minute as Ngumoha beat Cardona on the right flank and cut the ball back to Mac Allister, whose first-time finish struck the crossbar before finding the net.
Just three minutes later, Florian Wirtz extended the hosts’ advantage, converting Cody Gakpo’s pass with a low shot through Renato Veiga’s legs.
Villarreal refused to surrender, with Tani Oluwaseyi pulling a goal back in the 87th minute after meeting Ayoze Perez’s cross at the far post.
However, Liverpool held on to complete their comeback and secure a thrilling 4-3 victory.
Foden hat trick powers Manchester City past AEK
Manchester City cruised to a 5-1 victory over AEK Athens at the Etihad Stadium, with Phil Foden scoring three times.
City opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Elliot Anderson, who netted his first goal for the club after Enzo Fernandez’s free kick struck the crossbar, leaving him to finish the rebound into an empty net.
Foden doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 34th minute, firing into the roof of the net after exchanging passes with Rico Lewis following a move initiated by Rayan Cherki.
City took a 2-0 lead into halftime, but AEK pulled a goal back seven minutes after the restart through Stavros Pilios, who finished into the bottom right corner after being played through by Zine.
The hosts responded five minutes later as Cherki cut inside from the edge of the box and beat Brignoli to restore their two-goal advantage.
Foden added his second goal in the 65th minute, meeting Lewis’ pass with a first-time strike into the top corner following a diagonal ball from Cherki.
The England international completed his first Champions League hat trick in the 76th minute, converting Ryan McAidoo’s low cross from close range to seal City’s 5-1 victory.
Tuesday’s results
Fenerbahce 2-2 Slavia Prague
Sabah FK 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
FC Porto 0-1 PSV Eindhoven
Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal
Manchester City 5-1 AEK Athens
Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 Barcelona
Roma 4-0 Slovan Bratislava
Napoli 4-3 Bodo/Glimt
VfB Stuttgart 1-1 Atletico Madrid