LONDON: Jerome Boateng’s late goal and a second-half equaliser from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar on Wednesday completed a good week for German clubs against their counterparts from England in the opening round of Champions League group games.

Boateng’s first ever goal in the competition was a memorable one as it sealed a 1-0 win for Bayern Munich against his former club Manchester City in Group ‘E’, the defender’s powerful shot appearing to deflect off team-mate Mario Goetze, rising up and beyond the dive of Joe Hart, who had denied the 2013 champion with a series of saves.

The goal brought Bayern coach Pep Guardiola racing down the touchline to celebrate with Boateng.

“I think we had a lot of chances, we wasted many, but we believed until the end,” Germany international Boateng told reporters. “The ball came perfectly and I just drilled it in ... We deserved to win, although City made a good game but it was us who had the chances and it is extremely important to start off with a win.”

AS Roma are top of the group on goal difference after crushing CSKA Moscow 5-1.

Gervinho scored twice and another former City defender, Brazil’s Maicon, were on target against the Russian champions and Roma can now look forward to a trip to Manchester on September 30.

“We had high expectations. We wanted to put on a good showing after three years away from the Champions League and we imposed ourselves immediately,” Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis said.

“I was surprised by our intensity in the first half. ... The result was really deserved. If we’re able to advance from this group that would really be something.”

CSKA face further sanctions from UEFA after their fans threw flares, holding up play for two minutes in the second half at the Olympic Stadium. They must already host Bayern next in an empty stadium because of fans’ racist behaviour last season.

Meanwhile, Huntelaar’s strike allowed Schalke 04 to earn a deserved 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in Group ‘G’ after Cesc Fabregas had been slightly fortunate to see his first goal for his club stand.

“I am very proud of what my team did today against a top team like Chelsea,” Schalke coach Jens Keller said. “We were aggressive, we played into space, we had tempo and I am delighted with the performance. If we played like that we knew we had a chance.”

Bayern and Schalke’s strong showings against English opposition followed on from Borussia Dortmund’s dominant performance on Tuesday in beating Arsenal 2-0.

Former Manchester United winger Nani got on the scoresheet for Sporting Lisbon but Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will have not seen anything to fear too much from his group rivals as Slovenian champions Maribor fought back to grab a 1-1 draw.

Elsewhere, Barcelona and new coach Luis Enrique had a more routine night, eking out a 1-0 home win over resilient Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia.

The Catalans scored in the 28th minute when defender Gerard Pique headed in Lionel Messi’s free kick in a match probably better remembered for legendary midfielder Xavi Hernandez equalling compatriot Raul’s Champions League all-time appearance record of 142.

“What I most liked was the result, the attitude of my players and of the fans. We have to improve a lot, but I am very happy,” Enrique said.

“You also have to take into account that we were playing against 10 men behind the ball, and that will never be easy. We saw it was going to be a tough match from the very beginning, but my players stayed calm and we able to get the win.”

The side likely to be Barca’s main rivals to top Group ‘F’, Paris St Germain, dropped points with a 1-1 draw away at Ajax.

PSG wasted a host of chances when they were 1-0 up — Edinson Cavani’s 28th goal in his 50th appearance for the French champions giving them the lead — and paid the price when Danish international Lasse Schoene levelled with a delightful free-kick.

“On the basis of our second half, we deserved better than the draw, “declared Schoene. “We proved our worth.”

Athletic Bilbao’s first game at this stage in 16 years saw them hold Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 in Group ‘H’ while Porto crushed BATE Borisov 6-0 in the group’s other game.

Porto’s Algerian winger Yacine Brahimi produced the scoring performance of the evening with a hat-trick. The 24-year-old’s second was the pick of them as he collected the ball on the halfway line and ran through to slot the ball home.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2014