Javier Hernandez scored an 85th-minute winner to give Manchester United a 1-0 win over Spanish league leaders Valencia in yesterday's Champions League Group C match at the Mestalla Stadium.
Javier Hernandez scored an 85th-minute winner to give Manchester United a 1-0 win over Spanish league leaders Valencia in yesterday's Champions League Group C match at the Mestalla Stadium.
Mexican international Hernandez, 22, had only been on the pitch nine minutes but had an immediate impact, scoring United's first European goal of the new season as Sir Alex Ferguson's side won in Spain for the first time since 2002.
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United came into the match with defensive fears after conceding seven goals in their last three league matches, but a clean sheet coupled with Hernandez's late strike gave them only their second win in Spain from their last 19 visits.
It was their first victory since they defeated Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 in the 2001/02 quarter-final first leg at the Riazor Stadium.
Barcelona held
Spanish giants Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw by Russian champions Rubin Kazan in their Group D encounter at Kazan yesterday.
Both goals came from the penalty spot, with Ecuadorian midfielder Christian Noboa giving Rubin the lead in the first half and David Villa equalising on the hour mark. The result leaves Barcelona on top of the group with four points from two matches, while Kazan have just one point, having lost 1-0 at FC Copenhagen in their opening match.
"We got a very important point tonight," said Villa (left).
"We missed a lot of chances and the Rubin goalkeeper played very well, but finally we managed to level.
Rubin played well on the counter-attack, so we had to play very carefully in defence."
Inter thump Bremen
Champions Inter Milan thumped hapless Werder Bremen 4-0 in Champions League Group A at the San Siro last night.
Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o scored a brilliant hat-trick, taking his tally to 11 goals in nine games this season, and Holland playmaker Wesley Sneijder added the fourth as the Germans' defence offered their hosts a plethora of gifts.
Schalke march
Schalke 04 strikers Jefferson Farfan and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hit second-half goals to seal a 2-0 win over Benfica to give their side their first Champions League points.
Neither the Bundesliga hosts nor their Portuguese guests were impressive in front of the posts.
They hadu00a0 just two goals to show for their efforts despite a string of shots on goal for both sides ufffd 12 for Schalke, 11 for Benfica.
Spurs beat Twente
Tottenham beat FC Twente 4-1 to record their first Champions League group victory on an extraordinary night at White Hart Lane, which saw them awarded three penalties and have a man sent off.
Rafael van der Vaart saw the first spot-kick saved and the Dutchman was then sent off. Roman Pavlyuchenko converted the other two however, with the excellent Gareth Bale wrapping up victory with a late fourth.
Lyon on fire
Lyon left their dismal home form behind them to register a 3-1 win at Hapoel Tel Aviv, giving the misfiring French giants maximum points from their first two Champions League outings.
Lyon raced into a seventh-minute lead when England's World Cup final referee Howard Webb awarded them a penalty after Jimmy Briand was brought down by Walid Badier.
Michel Bastos converted the spot-kick, sending Hapoel goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama the wrong way.
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