Inter Milan remained among the teams with a perfect record by beating Kairat 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Barcelona was held at Club Brugge and Erling Haaland extended his scoring streak in Manchester City's 4-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund.
Lautaro Martínez and Carlos Augusto scored a goal in each half for last year's runner-up Inter, which joined Bayern Munich and Arsenal as the only teams with four victories from four matches — the league phase's halfway point.
Kairat, the Kazakhstan club that remains among the winless teams in the league phase, equalized with Ofri Arad early in the second half before Augusto gave the hosts the victory.
“We knew we had to win the first four games, and did it," Inter defender Federico Dimarco said. "We have to think game after game, every match is tough in the Champions League.”
Barcelona came from behind three times in its draw at Club Brugge, with Lamine Yamal being decisive in the team's comeback in Belgium. He scored in the 61st and it was his shot in the 77th that led to an own-goal by Club Brugge midfielder Christos Tzolis for the 3-3 score.
Phil Foden netted twice for Man City, while Haaland scored his 27th goal in 17 matches for club and country this season. He has scored in five consecutive Champions League games for three different clubs, having also done it with Salzburg and Dortmund.
“Every time I come to a press conference, they give him another record," Man City coach Pep Guardiola said.
The Norway striker has scored 14 times in his last nine games. Only twice he failed to score in a game this season.
José Mourinho's Benfica lost 1-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen for its fourth straight loss in the league phase. Ajax also picked up its fourth consecutive loss after a 3-0 defeat to ninth-place Galatasaray at home. Victor Osimhen converted two penalties in his hat trick for the visitors to reach six goals and overtake Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé — who have five goals each.
Ajax has one win in its last seven matches across all tournament.
Newcastle beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at St. James' Park with goals by Dan Burn and Joelinton, making it three wins and clean sheets in a row to move up to sixth in the table.
Atalanta won 1-0 at Marseille with a 90th-minute goal by Lazar Samardzic. Charles De Ketelaere missed a 14th-minute penalty for Atalanta.
In the early games, Chelsea drew 2-2 at Qarabag, while Pafos earned its first-ever league-phase win by beating Spanish club Villarreal 1-0 at home in Cyprus.
Man City cruises
Foden scored twice, Haaland added another, and substitute Rayan Cherki completed the scoring for City after Waldemar Anton netted for Dortmund.
Foden’s goals — swept low into the corner in each half — will have strengthened his case for an England recall when Thomas Tuchel names his squad this week.
It was City's third league-phase win to go with a 2-2 draw at Monaco. Dortmund was seeking its third victory.
“We are in a good position for the next game against Leverkusen, and if we can make one or two more victories, maybe we are close to finishing in the top eight,” Guardiola said.
Barcelona stumbles
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Carlos Forbs scored twice for Club Brugge in its back-and-forth home draw with Barcelona.
Club Brugge thought it had scored a winner in stoppage time after a blunder by Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, but the referee called for a foul when the goalkeeper lost possession inside the area.
Fermín López, Jules Koundé and Eric García hit the woodwork for Barcelona.
Barcelona avoided another loss after already going down against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain at home. It won at Newcastle and against Olympiakos.
“We can do things better,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said. "A 3-3 draw isn’t a good result, but we came from behind.”
Club Brugge has two losses and a win.
Chelsea held
Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a second-half goal as Chelsea drew level with Qarabag.
Chelsea’s Estevao, the man of the match, opened the scoring in the 16th minute but the hosts from Azerbaijan rallied with goals from Leandro Andrade in the 29th and a penalty by Marko Jankovic in the 39th.
Garnacho struck in the 53rd for Chelsea, which was coming off Champions League victories over Ajax and Benfica after opening the league phase with a loss at leader Bayern Munich.
“We conceded silly goals, and we need to pay extra attention going forward,” Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca said.
Qarabag has picked up seven points from its four games, having won its first two before losing 3-1 at Athletic Bilbao.
Historic Pafos win
In the other early game, newcomer Pafos earned its first-ever league-phase win by beating Spanish club Villarreal 1-0 at home in Cyprus.
“This was a historic win for the club and for Pafos,” defender David Goldar said. “Every year we grow and we are improving and long may that continue. We’ve created something special here but we also need to stay humble.”
In its previous matches, Pafos lost 5-1 to Bayern at home and drew 0-0 at both Kairat and Olympiakos.
Villarreal, back in the Champions League for the first time since reaching the semifinals in 2022, remains winless after four matches. It was coming off three consecutive victories in matches in the Spanish league and Copa del Rey.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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