Raul leads Real fightback

REAL MADRID captain Raul scored two goals and had a hand in another as he led his side’s fightback from two down to claim a thrilling 4-2 win over Roma in Group B at the Bernabeu.

The Italians got off to a flying start as they stormed into a 2-0 lead after 22 minutes, midfielder Daniele De Rossi and striker Antonio Cassano cashing in some appalling defending from the Real back four.

But Raul sparked the recovery six minutes before the break when he ran on to a pass from Zinedine Zidane and unleashed a powerful drive from the edge of the box which took a deflection off a defender and flew past keeper Ivan Pelizzoli.

The hosts stepped up a gear after the break and got back on level terms when Luis Figo netted from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute after Christian Panucci pushed Raul.

Raul then put Real in front when he got his foot to a powerful cross-shot from Figo to steer the ball past Pelizzoli 19 minutes later and take his tally in the Champions League to 47 goals. Brazilian fullback Roberto Carlos completed the comeback with a trademark thunderbolt drive 10 minutes from time.

In the group’s other game, Dynamo Kiev beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 to move to the top of the table with a 100% record from their opening two matches. The Ukrainian champions dominated for much of the first half and Brazilian midfielder Diogo Rincon put them ahead at the half-hour mark when he sent a curving shot past Hans-Joerg Butt.

But the visitors, who started their campaign with a 3-0 win over Real, took complete control at the start of the second half.

Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin equalised minutes after coming on for Brazilian forward Franca, before Bayer captain Jens Nowotny put the Germans in front 2-1 in the 68th minute.

A minute later Rincon made it 2-2 and substitute Florin Cernat fired Dynamo back into the lead in the 73rd minute before sealing victory in the last minute of stoppage time. Bayer’s Voronin was shown a straight red card for a nasty tackle in the 83rd minute.

Kiev were awarded three points after their game first game at Roma was abandoned at halftime with Dynamo 1-0 up when the referee was injured by an object thrown from the stands.

In Liverpool’s Group A, early goals by strikers Mohamed Kallon and Javier Saviola earned Monaco a 2-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna.

Kallon opened the scoring by slotting home a fine pass from Emmanuel Adebayor inside the box after five minutes. Saviola netted the second five minutes later with a close-range shot.

After the break Depor created several chances, but Monaco goalkeeper Flavio Roma produced several fine saves. But Monaco’s man of the match Adebayor came closest to adding another goal with a volley against the bar in the 75th minute before he was replaced by Ernesto Chevanton.

There were goals aplenty in Group C as a Roy Makaay hat-trick helped Bayern Munich to a 4-0 win over Ajax Amsterdam.

Makaay fired Bayern into the lead after 28 minutes, running on to a long pass over the top from England midfielder Owen Hargreaves before controlling sublimely and blasting the ball past Ajax goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont from 25 metres.

The Dutchman then doubled the German side’s lead in the 44th minute, glancing in a header from a curled Ze Roberto free kick on the right.

He completed his hat-trick early in the second half, slotting home from the penalty spot after Lobont brought down the Peruvian international Claudio Pizarro.

Makaay turned provider shortly afterwards, laying a first-time ball into the path of Ze Roberto for the Brazilian to slide a close-range left foot shot past the helpless Lobont.

A first half header from Argentine Mauro Camoranesi gave Juventus a 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the other game in Group C, giving the Italians the maximum six points from two games.

Camoranesi, who is not noted for his ability in the air, powerfully headed home a corner from Pavel Nedved in the 37th minute to win what was a disappointing match played in front of a poor crowd.

Juve enjoyed plenty of possession but they created little apart from a second half effort from Zlatan Ibrahimovic which was disallowed for offside and then a header from Igor Tudor which was well dealt with by Maccabi keeper Liran Strauber.

The nearest a well-organised Maccabi side came to a goal was a thundering long-range shot from Tamir Cohen in the 74th minute which forced a diving save out of Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Meanwhile, in Group D, Manchester United’s Group, Sylvain Wiltord’s second-half goal gave Olympique Lyon a 2-1 win over Sparta Prague.

Tomas Jun put Sparta in front in the seventh minute with a well-placed header, but Olympique managed to pull level in the 25th minute with Mickael Essien’s long range drive that curved into the far corner.

Former Arsenal striker Wiltord scored the decider in the 58th minute, beating the offside trap and then dribbling past the Sparta keeper before slotting the ball home into the open goalmouth.