Chelsea and AS Roma served up a rip-roaring 3-3 draw in London as both clubs stayed firmly on course for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Chelsea defender Gary Cahill and AS Roma's Gerson battle for possession. Photo: LaPresse
Edin Dzeko scored twice on his 100th appearance for Roma at Stamford Bridge as the Italians stormed back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining, only for Eden Hazard to salvage a point for English giants Chelsea.
David Luiz's curler put Chelsea ahead in the 11th minute and when Hazard doubled the home side's advantage in the 36th, it looked like being a routine night for Antonio Conte's side.
But Aleksandar Kolarov fired Roma back into contention before the interval and Dzeko's double in the space of six minutes, the first a scorching volley, looked to have earned Roma only their second win in 16 attempts on English soil.
Hazard's equaliser kept Chelsea top of group C with seven points from three games with Roma on five - three ahead of Atletico Madrid, who were surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw by Qarabag.
In group A, an embarrassing mistake by 18-year-old goalkeeper Mile Svilar gifted Manchester United a 1-0 win at Benfica.
The 18-year old Belgian, the youngest keeper to play in the Champions League, was undone by Marcus Rashford's long-range free kick in the 64th minute, catching the ball before back-pedalling and carrying it behind the goalline with his arms outstretched.
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The result extended United's unbeaten run in the English Premier and Champions Leagues this season under manager Jose Mourinho and left them top of the section with a maximum nine points.
Swiss side Basel are second after a 2-0 win at CSKA Moscow, three points ahead of the Russian team, while Benfica are bottom with none.
Also notable was yet another milestone for Lionel Messi, the Spanish star scoring his 100th goal in European competition as Barcelona outclassed Olympiakos 3-1, despite playing the entire second half with 10 men.
Gerard Pique was sent off two minutes before halftime for two bookings but Barca were barely threatened by a hapless Olympiakos side who are badly under-performing in their Greek title defence.
In Turin, Juventus hit back to snatch a late 2-1 win at home to Sporting after gifting the Portuguese side an early lead with a bizarre own goal by Alex Sandro.
The hosts were in early trouble when goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved the shot of Gelson Martins but the ball hit Sandro and went straight into the net.
Miralem Pjanic levelled with a superb free kick in the 29th minute and, just as Sporting seemed set to frustrate the hosts, Mario Mandzukic scored the winner with a superb diving header in the 84th minute.
Elsewhere, there were commanding wins for French side Paris St Germain and German outfit Bayern Munich.
PSG's feared attacking trio all got on the scoresheet in a 4-0 away victory over Anderlecht in group B, Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Neymar all scoring and Angel Di Maria adding a fourth in a win that maintains the Ligue 1 sides 100 percent record in the group stage.
They head the standings with nine points from second-placed Bayern Munich, who have six.
Bayern Munich eased past Scottish champions Celtic 3-0 to hand coach Jupp Heynckes a victorious return to the competition he won with them in 2013.
First-half goals from Thomas Mueller and Joshua Kimmich put them in the driving seat and Mats Hummels grabbed a third in the 51st minute to round off a dominant performance in which the 72-year-old Heynckes became the oldest coach in the competition's history.
Bayern are now second outright in on six points from three matches, three ahead of Celtic and three behind leaders PSG.
- Reuters
