Rasmus Højlund scored a goal either side of a Luis Suárez penalty to secure a 2-1 home win for Napoli against Sporting and kickstart the hosts’ Champions League campaign with their first points of the competition.
In the 36th minute, Kevin De Bruyne played a defence-splitting pass for Højlund to run on to, and after taking the ball into the area the on-loan Manchester United striker coolly slotted his effort through the legs of the goalkeeper Rui Silva.
Sporting equalised in the 62nd minute after Matteo Politano fouled Maximiliano Araujo in the area. Suárez stepped up to level from the spot and the shellshocked hosts took some time to recover while Sporting created chances and Pedro Gonçalves put an effort over the bar.
Napoli regrouped and were back in front 11 minutes from time with De Bruyne and Højlund again combining. The former Manchester City star sent in a cross from the left and the Danish forward got to the ball before the onrushing goalkeeper to steer a glancing header into the net.
Sporting almost snatched an added-time equaliser but Vanja Milinkovic-Savic made a reflex save to keep out Morten Hjulmand’s header.
Villarreal snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw against Juventus, with Renato Veiga’s last-minute header denying the Italian side their first win.
Georges Mikautadze put Villarreal ahead in the 18th minute, finishing coolly into the far corner after Nicolas Pépé put him through inside the area. The hosts continued to threaten with Alfonso Pedraza and Tajon Buchanan, but the Juventus goalkeeper Mattia Perin denied both before the break.
Juventus rallied in the second half, equalising through Federico Gatti’s acrobatic overhead kick in the 49th minute, and Francisco Conceição gave them the lead seven minutes later, pouncing on a defensive error to slot home.
Villarreal refused to give in, though, and Veiga rose highest to head in a corner from close range in the 90th minute, ensuring the hosts secured their first point of the campaign.
Borussia Dortmund almost blew a two-goal lead for the second consecutive Champions League game on Wednesday before holding their nerve to secure a 4-1 victory against Athletic Bilbao.
Undefeated across all competitions so far this season, Dortmund looked to have learned their lesson after spectacularly conceding two goals deep in second-half stoppage time to settle for a 4-4 draw against Juventus on the first matchday. On Wednesday they went 2-0 up with goals from Daniel Svensson and Carney Chukwuemeka in each half and with little resistance from the visitors.
The Spanish side, however, improved after the break and pulled a goal back through Gorka Guruzeta in the 61st minute before missing several chances to level in a nail-biting finale.
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Serhou Guirassy, back from injury, settled home fans’ nerves with a deflected effort eight minutes from the end to restore their two-goal cushion before Julian Brandt added another in stoppage time to seal their win.
Qarabag made it two wins out of two with a 2-0 home victory against FC Copenhagen, a week after their 3-2 triumph at Benfica.
The Azerbaijani side opened the scoring when Pedro Bicalho struck a post from the outside the box in the 28th minute and Abdellah Zoubir, their captain, reacted quickest to slot home the rebound from close range.
Qarabag struck again in the 83rd minute with an excellent individual goal from Emmanuel Addai, who sealed the win with a low drive from outside the box after being set up by Nariman Akhundzade.
Copenhagen, who were held to a draw by Bayer Leverkusen in their opener, host Borussia Dortmund on 21 October, before Qarabag visit Athletic Bilbao the following day.
PSV Eindhoven fought back quickly after conceding a sloppy goal to hold Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw. Calamitous defending from the Dutch visitors allowed the teenager Christian Kofane to pinch a 65th-minute goal at the Bay Arena but PSV were quick to pull level, with Ismael Saibari thundering home a 72nd-minute equaliser.
