LONDON: Chelsea were grateful to Eden Hazard for grabbing a 3-3 draw in a Champions League thriller against AS Roma on Wednesday, while Manchester United, Barcelona, Paris St Germain, Bayern Munich and Juventus all won.

United made it three wins out of three with a 1-0 victory at Benfica, as did Barca, who beat Olympiakos 3-1, despite playing the entire second half with 10 men.

It was easier for PSG and Bayern. The German side beat Celtic 3-0 while the French giants won 4-0 at Anderlecht to remain perfect.

Elsewhere, Juve laboured to a 2-1 win at home to Sporting Lisbon, Atletico Madrid look to be heading for an early exit after drawing 0-0 at Qarabag and Basel won 2-0 at CSKA Moscow.

Hazard headed in his second goal of the night from a Pedro Rodriguez cross with quarter of an hour left at Stamford Bridge to rescue Chelsea after they had earlier blown a two-goal lead against the Italians.

With Carlo Ancelotti, former Chelsea coach and Roma player, watching from the stands, David Luiz curled the English champions into an early lead and Hazard increased their advantage.

But Aleksandar Kolarov pulled one back for Roma before the interval and Edin Dzeko equalised with a stunning volley on 64 minutes before his header put the visitors ahead to the disbelief of the home fans in west London.

Hazard’s leveller allowed Chelsea to hold onto top spot in Group ‘C’ with seven points, two points clear of Roma and five better off than Atletico.

“It was a difficult game against a good team. We suffered in possession and it wasn’t easy in the first half, despite scoring two goals,” said Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.

Beaten finalists in 2014 and 2016, Atletico were held by Qarabag, who claimed their first ever Champions League point despite having South African striker Dino Ndlovu sent off late on.

Chelsea’s draw also ensured that the five English clubs in the competition all picked up points this midweek, with United grinding edging Benfica to maintain their perfect record in Group ‘A’.

United manager Jose Mourinho was returning to Lisbon to face the club he coached briefly in 2000 but it was Benfica’s teenage goalkeeper Mile Svilar who stole the headlines.

The 18-year-old Belgian was handed a start to become the youngest ever goalkeeper in the Champions League and was at fault for the only goal of a flat game.

Svilar was caught out when Marcus Rashford delivered a free-kick from wide on the left on 64 minutes and he could only carry the ball over the line.

Benfica’s misery was completed when captain Luisao was sent off in stoppage time.

“I never felt that we could concede a goal. Sometimes I feel to be good defensively is a crime but it is not a crime,” said Mourinho.

Basel, who beat pointless Benfica 5-0 last month, followed that with a win in Moscow, Taulant Xhaka and Dimitri Oberlin scoring.

The Swiss side climbed to second place in the group on six points, three behind leaders United. CSKA are third on three.

Bayern eased past Celtic 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.

Celtic were no match for the aggressive Bavarians, who were out to get their European campaign back on track after their 3-0 loss to PSG last month.

Bayern are now second outright in Group ‘B’ on six points from three matches, three ahead of Celtic and three behind leaders PSG, who continued their perfect run with frontmen Neymar Jr., Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani scoring a goal each.

Mbappe scored after less than three minutes before setting up Cavani for a close-range header shortly before halftime.

Neymar, also had his moment in the second half sending a low free kick under the soaring defenders and past goalkeeper Matz Sels in the 66th minute. Angel Di Maria rounded off the scoring two minutes from time.

Neymar’s former side Barca maintained their flawless record in Group ‘D’ as they beat Olympiakos despite having Gerard Pique sent off in the first half.

Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal in European competition when he curled a free kick over the wall in the 61st minute. Olympiakos goalkeeper Silvio Proto got a hand on the ball but couldn’t keep it out as Messi took his career tally in the Champions League to 97 goals.

“I hope he can get to 200 by the end of this season,” joked Barca manager Ernesto Valverde after the Argentine took his tally to 15 goals in all competitions less than two months into the campaign.

Messi also set up left back Lucas Digne to score in the 64th.

Nikolaou scored Olympiakos’ consolation goal with a header from a corner in the 90th.

The hosts were left a man down three minutes before halftime. Pique got a second booking for using his arm to steer the ball into the net. The strike was disallowed.

The Catalans remained three points ahead of Juve, who hit back to snatch a late win at home to Sporting after gifting the Portuguese side an early lead with a bizarre own goal by Alex Sandro.

Four days after their two-year unbeaten home run was ended by Lazio, Juve were in more trouble when goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved at foot 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 Mario Mandzukic scored the winner with a superb diving header in the 84th minute.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017