Bayern stifles City

Manchester, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Bayern Munich assumed control of Group D in the Champions League on Wednesday by securing a 3-1 win at Manchester City.

Both Bayern and City recorded three-goal wins in their opening game of the group stage, but Bayern showed its class on Wednesday by building a 3-0 lead in the opening hour before Alvaro Negredo came off the bench to pull a goal back for the hosts 10 minutes from time.

The Bavarian side sits atop the group with wins in its first two games, while City is tied in second with CSKA Moscow after the Russian outfit downed Plzen, 3-2, on Wednesday.

Franck Ribery netted the lone goal in the first half at the Etihad Stadium and it was one that City goalkeeper Joe Hart will want to have back.

Ribery cut inside from the left wing and drove a shot toward the lower left corner from 25 yards, beating Hart at his near post despite the netminder getting a hand to the ball.

Bayern doubled its lead in the 56th when Thomas Muller managed to stay onside and bring down a chipped pass from Dante before rounding Hart and rolling the ball into the net.

Arjen Robben extended the advantage to 3-0 three minutes later when he beat City defender Matija Nastasic and drove the ball past Hart despite the England international once again getting a piece of the shot.

Muller almost added to his tally when he struck the post in the 76th, while City finally found the net in the 80th through Negredo.

The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 86th when Jerome Boateng pulled down Yaya Toure as he attempted to get in on goal. But the closest City came to another goal was David Silva's free kick which crashed against the crossbar.

Group A is crowded at the top with Manchester United and Shakhtar Donetsk sharing the lead on four points after a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, while Bayer Leverkusen sits just behind on three points with a last-gasp 2-1 win over Real Sociedad.

Danny Welbeck had United in front in Ukraine with a first-half goal, but Shakhtar equalized in the last 15 minutes with a splendid finish from Taison inside the penalty area.

Bayer and Sociedad were locked in a 1-1 draw in stoppage time until a wonderful free kick from Jens Hegeler handed the German side a 2-1 victory.

Real Madrid rolled to a 4-0 triumph over FC Copenhagen in Group B as Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria scored two goals apiece, while Juventus was held to a second successive draw, this time in 2-2 fashion with Galatasaray, which scored the equalizer in the 88th minute through Umut Bulut.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice in PSG's 3-0 home win against Benfica to send the French champions to the top of Group C with six points.

Benfica remains on three points in second place along with Olympiacos, which notched a 3-0 win at Anderlecht through Kostas Mitroglou's hat trick.