Real Madrid, Tottenham, City mow down opponents; Liverpool held

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London, September 27: The second round Champions League matches did not offer much surprise as big guns Real Madrid, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur emerged victorious with consummate ease on Wednesday (September 27).

As expected Cristiano Ronaldo was on target twice for Real against German side Borussia Dortmund.

But star of the night undoubtedly was Harry Kane of Tottenham.

The English striker hammered a hat-trick in Spurs' comprehensive 3-0 win over Apoel Nicosia.
City too had an easy outing against Shakhtar Donestk with Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling finding the net.

However, Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by Spartak Moscow. Phillippe Coutinho got the equaliser for the Englishmen, their second draw in as many matches. In the first round, Sevilla had held Liverpool 2-2.

Reports of important matches

Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund

Real Madrid have moved onto six points in Group H after recording a 3-1 victory against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park.

Cristiano Ronaldo hit a brace for the European champions (49th, 70th), while Gareth Bale was also on the scoresheet in the 18th minute as Real put their La Liga troubles aside to post their first-ever away victory at Dortmund.

Tottenham vs Nicosia

The magical finishing of Harry Kane turned a poor performance into a superb Tottenham victory.

Now, they sit second in Group H, behind Real Madrid - whom they meet next in a double-header - on goal difference. Kane hammered goals in the 39th, 62nd and 67th minutes to keep the Londoners in the top half of the group.

Manchester City vs Shakhtar

Kevin De Bruyne scored a stunning opener and Sergio Aguero missed a penalty as City maintained their place at the top of Group F with a victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.

Pep Guardiola's free-scoring side had netted 23 goals in their previous five games, but any notions of recording yet another crushing victory were ended as City struggled to break down the disciplined visitors.

It took a moment of magic from De Bruyne for City to find the opener as the Belgian curled in a delicious effort from the edge of the box just three minutes into the second half.

Sterling's 90th minute goal sealed the match for City.

Liverpool vs Spartak Moscow

Liverpool's wait for a Champions League group-stage victory lingers on after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Spartak Moscow.

Coutinho's goal leveled matters for Liverpool in the 31st minute after Fernando fired the Russian champions ahead in the 23rd minute.

OTHER RESULTS

Sevilla 3 (Wissam Ben Yedder: 27th, 38th, 83rd) bt Maribor: 0

Napoli 3 (Lorenzo Insigne 7th, Dries Mertens 49th, Jose Callejon 70th) bt Feyenoord 1 (Sofyan Amrabat 93rd).

Besiktas 2 (Ryan Babel 11th, Talisca 43rd) bt Leipzig 0

Porto 3 (Vincent Aboubakar 31st, 69th; Miguel Layun 89th) bt Monaco: 0