BERN, Switzerland (AFP) – Substitute Jordan Siebatcheu struck with the last kick of the game as Swiss side Young Boys claimed a sensational 2-1 Champions League win over 10-man Manchester United on Tuesday after Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier opened the scoring.
USA striker Siebatcheu pounced on Jesse Lingard’s short back-pass to tuck the ball past David de Gea for a 95th-minute winner in front of a delirious crowd at the Wankdorf Stadium.
Ronaldo had put United ahead with his third goal in two games since returning to Old Trafford.
However, the match hinged on Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s sending-off late in the first half for a dangerous tackle on Christopher Martins which gave Young Boys hope.
The hosts hit back to equalise in the second half through Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu and Ronaldo was substituted before Siebatcheu got the winner.
“For a club of our size to make the headlines for one or two days in Europe and to beat Man United, one of the giants of European football, it’s really special,” said Young Boys coach, David Wagner.
It is a terrible start for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United side in Group F, especially with tougher tests likely to come against Atalanta and Villarreal.
“That’s football at the highest level, a lack of concentration, make a mistake and you get punished,” Solskjaer said of the mistake that led to the Young Boys winner.
He was also adamant that Wan-Bissaka’s game-changing red card, while understandable, was a harsh decision.
“It was never reckless or malicious but probably a little bit of inexperience,” Solskjaer insisted.
Ronaldo at least added to his statistics — he is the Champions League’s all-time record scorer and now has 135 goals in the competition, 15 more than his old enemy Lionel Messi.
He will be 37 early next year but his hunger for success knows no bounds and he clearly felt returning to Old Trafford gave him a better chance of winning a sixth European Cup than if he stayed at Juventus.
United host Villarreal in two weeks. The Spaniards, who beat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men in last season’s Europa League final, drew 2-2 at home to Atalanta in the other Group F match.
Remo Freuler gave Atalanta the lead but Villarreal responded with goals from Manu Trigueros and Arnaut Danjuma. Robin Gosens popped up with a late equaliser.
Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock for Chelsea after 69 minutes at Stamford Bridge to earn the holders a 1-0 victory over Zenit, whose Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg is the venue for next May’s final.
Lukaku headed in Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross to give Thomas Tuchel’s team a winning start in Group H.
Juventus top the section after the opening round following their 3-0 win away to Malmo of Sweden.
– Bayern roll Barca aside –
Alex Sandro headed Juve ahead and Paulo Dybala converted a penalty before Alvaro Morata notched a third for a side that has picked up just one point from three games in Serie A.
Bayern stretched their record unbeaten away run in the Champions League to 19 games by sweeping aside Barca in the first meeting between the clubs since the Germans triumphed 8-2 in a one-off quarter-final last year.
Thomas Mueller put Bayern on top on 34 minutes and Lewandowski netted twice in the second half to send Julian Nagelsmann’s side top of Group E.
“We came to win this game and we knew that we had to show respect to Barcelona,” said Lewandowski.
“When you play at the Camp Nou against them they are always dangerous. But we had this game under control and we showed we were here for the three points.”
Dynamo Kiev had to settle for a 0-0 draw at home to Benfica after Ukraine international Mykola Shaparenko’s injury-time effort was ruled out for offside.
Sevilla rode their luck in an eventful 1-1 draw against Salzburg.
The Austrians missed two of three first-half penalties, with Karim Adeyemi firing wide from the spot and Luka Sucic hitting the post having earlier converted Salzburg’s second penalty.
Ivan Rakitic levelled for Sevilla with another spot-kick before the interval. Youssef En-Nesyri was sent off early in the second period for the home side.
French champions Lille and Bundesliga leaders Wolfsburg drew 0-0 to leave all Group G teams level on one point.
