Inter stay perfect in Champions League

MILAN, Italy:

Inter Milan remained among the teams with a perfect record by beating Kairat 2-1 in the Champions League yesterday, while Barcelona were held at Club Brugge and Erling Haaland extended his scoring streak in Manchester City's 4-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund.

Lautaro Martinez and Carlos Augusto scored a goal in each half for last year's runners-up Inter, which joined Bayern Munich and Arsenal as the only teams with four victories from four matches -- the league phase's halfway point.

Kairat, the Kazakhstan club that remains among the winless teams in the league phase, equalised with Ofri Arad early in the second half before Augusto gave the hosts the victory.

"We knew we had to win the first four games, and did it," Inter defender Federico Dimarco said. "We have to think game after game, every match is tough in the Champions League."

LAMAL DECISIVE

Barcelona came from behind three times in their draw at Club Brugge, with Lamine Yamal being decisive in the team's comeback in Belgium. He scored in the 61st and it was his shot in the 77th that led to an own-goal by Club Brugge midfielder Christos Tzolis for the 3-3 score.

Carlos Forbs scored twice for Club Brugge.

Fermin Lopez, Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia hit the woodwork for Barcelona.

Phil Foden netted twice for Man City, while Haaland scored his 27th goal in 17 matches for club and country this season. He has scored in five consecutive Champions League games for three different clubs, having also done it with Salzburg and Dortmund.

"Every time I come to a press conference, they give him another record," Man City coach Pep Guardiola said.

The Norway striker has scored 14 times in his last nine games. Only twice he failed to score in a game this season.

It was City's third league-phase win to go with a 2-2 draw at Monaco. Dortmund were seeking their third victory.

Jose Mourinho's Benfica lost 1-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen for their fourth straight loss in the league phase.

OSIMHEN HAT-TRICK

Ajax also picked up their fourth consecutive loss after a 3-0 defeat to ninth-place Galatasaray at home. Victor Osimhen converted two penalties in his hat-trick for the visitors to reach six goals and overtake Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe -- who have five goals each.

Ajax have one win in their last seven matches across all tournaments.

Newcastle beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at St James' Park with goals by Dan Burn and Joelinton, making it three wins and clean sheets in a row to move up to sixth in the table.

Atalanta won 1-0 at Marseille with a 90th-minute goal by Lazar Samardzic. Charles De Ketelaere missed a 14th-minute penalty for Atalanta.

In the early games, Chelsea drew 2-2 at Qarabag, while newcomers Pafos earned their first-ever league-phase win by beating Spanish club Villarreal 1-0 at home in Cyprus.

"This was a historic win for the club and for Pafos," defender David Goldar said. "Every year we grow and we are improving and long may that continue. We've created something special here but we also need to stay humble."

-AP