PARIS, Oct 1 – Michael Carrick secured a 2-1 win for Manchester United on Wednesday as the English Premier League champions came back from a goal down to edge Germany's Wolfsburg at Old Trafford and make it a perfect six points from two Champions League games.
Carrick swept home a fine strike 12 minutes from the end, after Ryan Giggs’s deflected free-kick had cancelled out Edin Dzeko’s shock 57th-minute opener for the visitors.
United’s 2008 final opponents Chelsea had a first-half goal from Nicolas Anelka to thank for a 1-0 win away to the Cypriots of Apoel Nicosia.
With five-times champions Liverpool having suffered a Tuesday setback at Fiorentina, the onus was on the English sides to showcase the Premier League and United and Chelsea did not disappoint, even if their winning margins were wafer-thin.
In United’s Group B, CSKA Moscow bounced back from defeat at Wolfsburg to edge Turkish champions Besiktas 2-1, Alan Dzagoev and Milos Krasic scoring for the Russians with Ismail Koybasi on target for the visitors, who went down at home to United in their opener.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea started off with a Stamford Bridge success over two-time champions Porto and the Portuguese secured a 2-0 success at home to Spain’s Atletico Madrid after late goals from Falcao and Rolando.
Elsewhere, former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and Kaka once for Real Madrid as the Spaniards, desperate to add a tenth crown after seven barren seasons in Europe, dispatched Marseille 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
But Group C rivals and seven-times winners AC Milan suffered a humiliating 1-0 home loss to Zurich of Switzerland.
Centre-back Hannu Tihinen scored with a neat first-half backheel to increase the pressure on AC Milan coach Leonardo, whose team have endured a miserable start to the season.
In Group A, French playmaker Franck Ribery of four-time champions Bayern Munich did his utmost to prise open the defence of two-times winners Juventus but the Bavarians had to settle for a goalless stalemate, while French pace-setters Bordeaux had to wait until the closing minutes for Michael Ciani to head the winner against Israel’s Maccabi Haifa.
