Champions League: Carrick's early goal enough for Manchester United

MANCHESTER, England (AP) -- Michael Carrick scored an early goal Wednesday and Manchester United hung on for a 1-0 win over Galatasaray in their Champions League opener despite sloppy play and a missed penalty from the English club.

Carrick put United ahead in the seventh minute as Alex Ferguson's team looked determined to put last season's disappointing group-stage exit behind it. But Galatasaray pegged United back after that and were unlucky not to equalize. The Turkish club hit the woodwork three times, had two penalty appeals rejected and forced a couple of good saves from David de Gea to leave Old Trafford scoreless.

Nani could have made the game safe for United in the 52nd but missed a penalty.

Cluj 2, Braga 0

BRAGA, Portugal (AP) -- Rafael Bastos scored twice in the first half to give Cluj a win at Braga on Wednesday in the Champions League.

Bastos, a Braga reject, put the visitors ahead in the 19th when he linked up with Modou Sougou on a counterattack and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper.

The Brazilian struck again 15 minutes later, getting past three Braga defenders down the left before blasting the ball past Beto.

Braga had most of the possession in northern Portugal but fell prey to the Romanian team's quick counterattacks and ruthless finishing.

The triumph was Cluj's second victory in three appearances in the competition. It had lost its previous five Champions League away matches.

The teams are in Group H along with Manchester United and Galatasaray.

Bayern Munich 2, Valencia 1

MUNICH (AP) -- Toni Kroos' powerful long-range strike got Bayern Munich off to a winning start in the Champions League with a win over Valencia on Wednesday.

Kroos let fly to the top left corner with 14 minutes remaining, just as a defensive Valencia side threatened to equalize Bastian Schweinsteiger's 38th-minute opening strike.

Valencia substitute Nelson Valdez then out-jumped two Bayern markers in injury time to head Jonathan Viera's cross beyond Manuel Neuer for some late drama.

There was still time for Valencia defender Adil Rami to earn a second yellow card for bringing down Arjen Robben in the penalty area, and for Mario Mandzukic to miss the resultant penalty on his Champions League debut.

BATE Borisov 3, Lille 1

LILLE, France (AP) -- BATE Borisov opened its Champions League campaign with an impressive win away to Lille, overpowering the French side with a slick first-half display of attacking football.

Lille failed to make it out of the group stage in last season's Champions League and Rudi Garcia's team was eager to make a strong impression this time around.

But midfielder Aleksandr Volodko put the visitors ahead after just six minutes, striker Vitali Rodionov made it 2-0 in the 20th, and Edgar Olekhnovich added another just before the break to pile the pressure on Lille.

Center half Aurelien Chedjou pulled a goal back on the hour mark, but Lille failed to create enough chances to salvage even a draw against the Belarus side.

Shakhtar Donetsk 2, Nordsjealland 0

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) -- Henrik Mkhitaryan's expert finish in each half Wednesday gave Shakhtar Donetsk a victory over Nordsjealland in the group stage of the Champions League.

In the 44th minute, the Armenian forward lashed a low, hard shot into the bottom corner of the net after receiving an overhead pass from Luiz Adriano.

Mkhitaryan pounced on a rebound from his own shot in the 76th minute to make no mistake and side-foot the ball into the goal from just inside the area.

The sides appeared evenly matched early on but Shakhtar began to control the game and force Nordsjaelland to retreat further and further back, allowing Mkhitaryan to constantly threaten.

Shakhtar leads Group F with Chelsea and Juventus drawing 2-2 at Stamford Bridge in the other match.

Celtic 0, Benfica 0

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Celtic was held to a lackluster draw by Benfica on Wednesday in the Scottish winners' return to the Champions League for the first time in four years.

In a Group G match of few clear-cut chances at Parkhead, the Portuguese visitors arguably had the better of them with Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster producing great saves to deny Rodrigo and Ezequiel Garay.

The hosts couldn't muster a decent chance, continuing their below-par form that has left them slumped in fifth place in the Scottish league.

The point will probably be welcomed by both sides with second place seemingly all that is on offer in a group that contains competition favorite Barcelona, which scored late twice to win 3-2 over Spartak Moscow on Wednesday.

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