PARIS, Oct 23 — Hugo Ekitike scored against his former club as Liverpool got back on track with a 5–1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League today, while Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were among the night’s other winners.

The Anfield side went into their trip to Germany reeling from four consecutive defeats, including a 1–0 loss to Galatasaray in their previous Champions League outing.

They bounced back in style, coming from behind to hammer Eintracht, who suffered a second straight 5–1 defeat in Europe — having opened their campaign with a 5–1 win.

Rasmus Kristensen gave the hosts the lead, but Ekitike broke away to equalise against the team he left in July in a £79 million (RM446 million) deal.

Virgil van Dijk headed the visitors in front from a corner on 39 minutes, and Ibrahima Konaté made it 3–1 before the interval in almost identical fashion.

Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai added further goals in the second half as Liverpool moved up to 10th in the 36-team league phase standings.

“I don’t know if it’s a statement, but it is a win and something to build on,” Van Dijk told broadcaster TNT Sports.

Kane scores again

Chelsea won by the same scoreline against Ajax at Stamford Bridge in a match that featured an early red card and three first-half penalties.

Kenneth Taylor was sent off for the Dutch visitors before Marc Guiu and Moises Caicedo scored for the Premier League side.

Wout Weghorst pulled one back from the spot for Ajax, but Enzo Fernandez and Estevão both converted penalties before half-time for Chelsea.

Tyrique George rounded off the scoring in the second half — marking the first time in Champions League history that three teenagers scored for the same team.

“We trust a lot of young players,” said Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca after the goals for Guiu, Estevão and George. “That is the strategy of the club, but not only the ones that we buy — also the ones from the academy.”

Chelsea have now won their last two European outings since beginning their campaign with a 3–1 defeat at Bayern.

Ajax, meanwhile, are bottom of the standings as one of only two teams without a point after three games — the other being José Mourinho’s Benfica.

Bayern are one of five teams with the maximum nine points as Harry Kane scored his 20th goal in 12 club appearances this season in a 4–0 cruise against Club Brugge at the Allianz Arena.

Lennart Karl, 17, opened the scoring before Kane, Luis Díaz and Nicolas Jackson also found the net for the Bundesliga champions.

Real Madrid also have nine points following a hard-earned 1–0 victory over Juventus at the Santiago Bernabéu, as England captain Kane’s compatriot Jude Bellingham scored for the first time this season.

The goal came just before the hour mark, with Bellingham converting the rebound after Vinícius hit the upright. Juventus have now gone seven games without a win.

“I’m very happy with the win. It was a very tough game with chances at both ends and we had to sweat for it, but it was an important win against a big team,” Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told Movistar.

Spurs draw with Monaco

Tottenham Hotspur were the only one of England’s six representatives to fail to win this week, held to a 0–0 draw away to Monaco.

In Lisbon, Portuguese champions Sporting came from behind to defeat Marseille 2–1 in a game that turned on a red card in first-half stoppage time.

Igor Paixão’s stunner put Marseille ahead, but Emerson Palmieri was dismissed for a second yellow for diving after a penalty decision in his favour was overturned.

Sporting used the extra man to equalise in the second half through Geny Catamo before Alisson Santos struck the winner.

Nigeria star Victor Osimhen netted twice as Galatasaray beat Bodo/Glimt 3–1 in Istanbul, with Yunus Akgün scoring their other goal before Andreas Helmersen pulled one back.

Athletic Bilbao came from behind to beat Qarabag of Azerbaijan 3–1 at San Mamés, after Leandro Andrade had given the visitors a first-minute lead. Gorka Guruzeta bagged a brace for the Basque side either side of a Robert Navarro goal.

Atalanta and Slavia Prague drew 0–0 in the night’s other fixture.

The next round of Champions League action in a fortnight will feature headline clashes between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern, and Liverpool and Real Madrid. — AFP