Liverpool Come From Two Goals Down to Beat Villarreal 4-3 on a Champions League Night of 40 Goals
An 18-year-old winger made two goals and a comeback at Anfield, while Paris beat Barcelona 4-2, Foden scored a hat trick for City and Napoli edged a seven-goal thriller.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026/2 min read
Anfield trailed by two before the half hour and finished the night singing. Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 in the Champions League on Tuesday, their first win from two goals down since May 2022, and an 18-year-old, Rio Ngumoha, was the reason, ESPN reported.
It was one result in a round that, by our count of the full-time scores on Sky Sports, produced 40 goals in nine matches.
How did Liverpool come back against Villarreal?
Georges Mikautadze scored inside four minutes and Sergi Cardona made it 2-0 shortly before the half hour. Alexis Mac Allister headed in a Tsimikas corner to start the recovery, and Ronald Araujo equalised before the break, heading in a cross after Ngumoha beat several defenders. Mac Allister put Liverpool ahead after the interval from another Ngumoha assist, and substitute Florian Wirtz added a fourth from a Gakpo cutback.
Tani Oluwaseyi pulled one back three minutes from time, which made the finish nervous. Liverpool held on.
Ngumoha finished with two assists. ESPN noted he is the youngest player on record since 2008-09 to complete at least five dribbles, have ten touches in the opposition box and register an assist in a Champions League game. His own verdict: "It's up there with one of the best I've played."
What happened in the other Champions League games?
Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 at the Parc des Princes, ESPN reported, ending an 11-game winning start to the season for Hansi Flick's side across all competitions. Flick blamed mistakes and tired legs after a heavy schedule. Barcelona host Real Madrid in LaLiga on Sunday.
Manchester City thrashed AEK Athens 5-1, with Phil Foden scoring a hat trick, the last of his goals 14 minutes from time, per ESPN. UEFA described it as his first Champions League hat trick. Napoli beat Bodo/Glimt 4-3 in what UEFA called a seven-goal epic.
The rest of the round, per Sky: Roma 4-0 Slovan Bratislava, Fenerbahce 2-2 Slavia Prague, Stuttgart 1-1 Atletico Madrid, Sabah 1-2 Borussia Dortmund and Porto 0-1 PSV Eindhoven.
What is next?
Wednesday brings Bayern Munich against Arsenal, Real Madrid against RB Leipzig and Inter against Shakhtar, among seven games at 8pm, according to Sky, with Como against Manchester United and Lille against Galatasaray at 5.45pm.
For Liverpool, the harder lesson is defensive: three goals conceded at home against a Spanish side. For the club, the more pleasant problem is an 18-year-old who cannot be left out.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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