Paris: The two Manchester clubs enjoyed victories in a happier night for England in the Champions League.

Manchester United and City were made to work hard for 2-1 wins against German clubs Wolfsburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach respectively on Wednesday, 24 hours after Chelsea and Arsenal had both crashed to defeats.

Both Manchester sides were looking to bounce back from defeats in their opening Champions League group games two weeks ago and United got their campaign back on track in Group B, although only after falling behind.

Daniel Caligiuri put Wolfsburg in front after just five minutes at Old Trafford, but Juan Mata won and converted a penalty to pull United level before the break, and the Spaniard then produced a superb flick to set up Chris Smalling, who scored the winner early in the second half.

Manager Louis van Gaal says his side must be more ruthless in front of goal if they are to challenge for the title.

Despite getting the three points, Van Gaal was not happy with the performance, especially the way his team surrendered control after going ahead.

"In the first half we played very well but we didn't finish our chances, and that was our problem," he said.

"It was 1-1 at halftime but we created chances to be 3-1 ahead. Then you have to continue and we did, but only for the first 15 minutes, I think. After the goal it was transforming our team, because we didn't keep the ball anymore and I didn't see Wolfsburg pressing so much, so we gave the ball away," he added.

The Dutchman bemoaned United's lack of killer instinct and said teams do not win the Champions League without it.

"You shall win the Champions League when you are clinical and when you can finish the game much earlier," he added.

"We had the chances to do that in the first half, or to keep the ball in the second half. We didn't do that and I was suffering on the bench, but the fans were also suffering and I have to admit the players were also suffering. But they continued with the team spirit."

The Premier League leaders now find themselves in a four-way tie on three points in Group B after CSKA Moscow defeated PSV Eindhoven 3-2 in Russia in the night's other game.

PSV had beaten United in the Netherlands a fortnight ago but they were taken apart in the first half at the Arena Khimki, Ahmed Musa opening the scoring before Seydou Doumbia headed in a second and then scored a penalty.

Doumbia might have had a hat-trick, only to blaze another spot-kick over the bar, and PSV were given hope when Maxime Lestienne scored a second-half brace. However, CSKA held on as the visitors finished with 10 men after Santiago Arias was sent off.

Meanwhile, City had Sergio Aguero to thank for winning and then scoring a last-gasp penalty as they beat Gladbach 2-1 at Borussia-Park in Group D, securing a precious victory after they lost at home to Juventus in their first outing.

It was a happy ending to a difficult evening, with the Bundesliga side missing the chance to open the scoring in the first half when Raffael won a penalty only to see his kick saved by Joe Hart.

They did go in front through Lars Stindl nine minutes after the restart, but City equalised when a Nicolas Otamendi shot took a decisive deflection off Andreas Christensen before Aguero's heroics.

It is Juventus who top the section, though, after Alvaro Morata and Simone Zaza netted to clinch a merited 2-0 win over Sevilla in Turin.

PSG are level with Real Madrid on six points at the top of Group A after easing to a 3-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, Serge Aurier and David Luiz netting in the first half before a Darijo Srna own goal late on put the seal on the win.

Meanwhile, Portuguese champions Benfica took control of Group C after coming from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1, Nicolas Gaitan and Goncalo Guedes with their goals after Angel Correa put Atletico ahead.

However, the Portuguese champions' victory was overshadowed by the behaviour of some of their travelling fans, who threw flares at Atletico supporters after Nicolas Gaitan's equalising goal at the Vicente Calderon.

"The flares are a social problem that other people have to resolve," said Atletico coach Diego Simeone.

(AFP)