UCL Round-Up: United, Chelsea Go Through
The first batch of games in match day four of the UEFA Champions League were played last night. Here’s a brief round up from all eight ties.
Group A
Bayern Munich 0-2 Bordeaux
Bordeaux have booked their place in the knockout stages after beating Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Allianz Arena.
The French champions took the lead in the 38th minute when playmaker Yoann Gourcuff saw his downward header creep past the flailing Hans-Jorg Butt before striker Marouane Chamakh clinched maximum points for the visitors in stoppage time after another blunder by Bayern’s shot-stopper.
Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Juventus
Juventus moved a step closer to the knock-out stages with a 1-0 victory away to Maccabi Haifa.
Mauro Camoranesi gave Juve a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time and although the Italians were pegged back for much of the second half, they hung on to cement second spot in Group A.
With German giants Bayern Munich losing at home to group leaders Bordeaux it means Juve need just two points from their last two games to secure a place in the last 16.
Group B
Besiktas 0-3 Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg tightened their grip on second as they sealed a 3-0 win over Besiktas in Istanbul.
The opener came from their skipper Zvjezdan Misimovic after just 14 minutes. He ran unchallenged through the midfield before lashing the ball into the top corner from 25 yards.
The German champions then added two goals in the final ten minutes to seal the win as Ashkan Dejagah fired home from the edge of the box before Edin Dzeko slotted the ball past Hakan Arikan after being sent clear.
Man Utd 3-3 CSKA Moscow
Manchester United stumbled into the knockout phase of the Champions League after a lucky stoppage-time goal secured a 3-3 draw at home to CSKA Moscow.
Typical Man Utd….
Group C
AC Milan 1-1 Real Madrid
AC Milan and Real Madrid remain on course to qualify for the knockout stages after a 1-1 draw at the Giuseppe Meazza.
The European giants seldom hit the heights of their dramatic clash in Spain a fortnight ago but a point each leaves them joint top of Group C.
Marseille 6-1 FC Zurich
Marseille boosted their chances of qualifying from Group C with a 6-1 rout of FC Zurich at the Stade Velodrome.
Didier Deschamps’ side beat the Swiss champions 1-0 a fortnight ago and did the double here thanks to two early goals from free-kicks, as well as second-half goals from Mamadou Niang, Vitorino Hilton, Benoit Cheyrou and Brandao.
Group D
Apoel Nicosia 0-1 FC Porto
Falcao’s late strike sent Porto into the knockout stages following a 1-0 win over Apoel Nicosia.
Porto’s top scorer popped up six minutes from time with the only goal of the game in Cyprus.
In a game of few chances Porto finally made their dominance count with Colombian Falcao ending Apoel’s chances of progressing.
Atletico Madrid 2-2 Chelsea
Didier Drogba marked his return to the Champions League with two goals to send Chelsea into the last 16 after a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid.
Drogba netted two late goals to cancel out Sergio Aguero’s brilliant volleyed opener, but Chelsea target Aguero denied him a winning return to European action with last-gasp equaliser.
Blues hit-man Drogba, who missed the first three games of Group D through suspension, popped up with two goals in the last eight minutes to turn the game in Chelsea’ favour after Aguero’s opener, but Aguero had the final word as his sublime free-kick earned Atletico a draw.
The draw was good enough to send Chelsea through to the knockout stages with two games to spare.
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