Ademola Lookman scored one goal and was heavily involved in the other two to drive Atalanta to a 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday as the Italians outclassed their Ukrainian opponents in Gelsenkirchen.

Atalanta have four points from two games, having held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw in their opening match, and Shakhtar remained on one point, after they played out a scoreless draw in the first game against Italian side Bologna.

Atalanta went ahead in the 21st minute when Lookman curled a cross into the area which found Berat Djimsiti in front of goal and he controlled the ball before poking it past the keeper.

Atalanta doubled the lead a minute before the break when Sead Kolasinac squared a pass to Lookman in the middle of the area and the Nigerian struck a first-time shot through the legs of his marker Marlon Gomes into the bottom corner of the net.

The game was all but over as a contest three minutes into the second half after Lookman played the ball out wide to Davide Zappacosta and his cross into the six-yard box was headed home by Raoul Bellanova.

At 3-0, Lookman, who also hit the crossbar in the first half, was taken off with over half an hour to play, his work done for the night and the tie ended with the same scoreline as the last time the sides met in the Champions League in 2019.

-Reuters

Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface netted a second half goal to earn a 1-0 home win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, giving the German side a perfect start to their campaign while the Italians are still without a point.

Bundesliga champions Leverkusen are on six points after they beat Feyenoord 4-0 in their opening game, while Milan lost 3-1 at home to Liverpool in their first match of the competition.

The only goal at the BayArena came six minutes after the break when Boniface fired home a rebound after Milan keeper Mike Maignan had parried a shot from Jeremie Frimpong.

It was no more than the home side deserved after an opening half in which they had the majority of possession and chances but could not find a way past Maignan, while Milan struggled to get a foothold in the game.

The goal spurred the visitors into action and they threatened to find an equaliser as they pinned Leverkusen back for long periods of the second half, but they fell to their second defeat in their first two games of the competition.

Leverkusen had two early chances in the opening minutes with Maignan saving from Boniface and then keeping out Piero Hincapie’s header from the resulting corner.

The hosts surged forward at every opportunity, and thought they had found a way through when Boniface had the ball in the net but Frimpong was offside when he collected a pass on the wing to send in the cross.

Maignan kept Milan in the game, saving from Alex Grimaldo and Florian Wirtz, with Frimpong guilty of wasting chances on the rebound on both occasions, but Boniface made no mistake when his opportunity came.

Grimaldo’s backheeled pass set up Frimpong for the shot which Maignan again managed to get a hand to but Boniface had the simplest of chances from close range and Leverkusen were ahead.

Milan manager Paulo Fonseca said before kickoff that he did not want to risk Alvaro Morata from the start but with his side searching for an equaliser the Spanish striker was sent on for Tammy Abraham in the 62nd minute.

Morata had the chance to make his entrance count when Theo Hernandez’s shot from distance took a deflection and bounced back off the crossbar. Morata met the rebound but his header went wide of the far post.

Milan had another late chance to snatch an equaliser but Leverkusen’s Lukas Hradecky saved a shot on the turn from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and the home side held out to take all three points.

-Reuters

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored twice to set his side on course for a 5-0 Champions League thrashing of Swiss side Young Boys on Tuesday as the Catalan giants bounced back from a 2-1 loss at AS Monaco in their opener.

After a sizzling start to their LaLiga campaign that featured seven consecutive wins, Barcelona slumped to a shock 4-2 defeat at Osasuna on Saturday, but Hansi Flick’s side returned to form in dominating fashion.

Lewandowski gave the hosts the lead in the eighth minute by tapping in a low Raphinha cross after a fine combination between the Brazilian forward and teenage sensation Lamine Yamal.

Barca were in full control with over 75% of possession when Young Boys wasted a golden opportunity to score the equaliser from a counter attack in the 30th minute.

The hosts failed to clear a cross and Ebrima Colley met the loose ball unchallenged at the far post, but his poor strike went well wide of the post.

After squandering some decent chances, including a fine Yamal strike that was denied by the goalkeeper, a quick-fire double from Raphinha and Inigo Martinez gave Barca a 3-0 lead.

The Brazilian netted a rebound from a corner in the 34th and defender Martinez scored with a towering header less than three minutes later from a cross by Pedri.

Lewandowski got his second and Barca’s fourth in the 51st minute with a header in the six-yard box from a Martinez corner, before defender Mohamed Camara bundled the ball into his own net in the 81st trying to clear an Alejandro Balde cross.

Despite their attacking dominance, Barca were occasionally vulnerable at the back, with Silvere Ganvoula missing a clear chance from close-range and Joel Monteiro hitting the crossbar.

Monteiro thought he had scored a consolation goal from a counter attack in added time, but his effort was disallowed for a marginal offside following a VAR check.

-Reuters