Thursday 20 September 2012

Chelsea Held After Leading 2-0, United Scrape Through

Group E: Champions Chelsea started their hopes of retaining the trophy with a draw at home to Juventus. It started well for the home side as European debutante, Oscar, gave them a 2-0 lead with goals on the 31st and 33rd minutes. Arturo Vidal pulled a goal back for Juventus five minutes later. The point was then rescued ten minutes from the end with Fabio Quagliarella preventing Chelsea from winning.
FC Nordsjaelland's first ever Champions League game ended in defeat away to Shakhtar Donetsk. Henrikh Mkhitaryan put Shakhtar ahead just before half-time and then sealed the points with their second on 76-minutes.

Group F: Bayern Munich began their campaign with a win over Valencia at the Allianz Arena. Bastian Schweinsteiger broke the deadlock seven minutes before half-time with Toni Kroos doubling their advantage on 76-minutes. Nelson Valdez did pull a goal back in injury time for Valencia before Adil Rami was sent off two minutes later for the Spaniards, Mario Mandzukic then failed to score from the subsequent penalty.
Perhaps the shock of the night came in France where Lille lost to BATE. Alyaksandar Volodko put BATE ahead after just six minutes with Vitali Radionov making it 2-0 after 20-minutes. Edgar Olekhnovich then made it 3-0 two minutes before half-time. Lille did get a consolation through Aurelien Chedjou on the hour mark but it is not a result many would have expected.

Group G: Barcelona had to come from behind to beat Spartak Moscow in Camp Nou. Cristian Tello did give the hosts the lead on 14-minutes. A Dani Alves own goal on the half hour mark levelled the game before  Romulo made it 2-1 to the Russian side 13-minutes into the second half. Who else, but Lionel Messi would steal the show with Barcelona's equaliser on 71-minutes before winning the game ten minutes before the end.
Celtic's first Champions League game in four years ended in a reputable goalless draw away to Benfica. It's one tough point for Celtic, with many just as difficult opportunities to come.

Group H: Manchester United scrape through their opening game with a 1-0 win over Galatasaray. After an early penalty appeal, the Turkish side found themselves behind when Michael Carrick played a one-two with Shinji Kagawa before rounding Fernando Muslera and scoring after seven minutes. Galatasaray were dangerous throughout and did hit the crossbar in the first half. United could have made it easier for themselves when Rafael was tripped in the box in the second half, Nani stepped up but his poor penalty was easily saved, United's third missed penalty in three games.
Another slight shock came in Portugal where Braga lost to Cluj with a former player coming back to haunt the hosts. Braga were the more dominant throughout the game but were behind after 19-minutes when Rafael Bastos scored against his former club. Bastos then made it 2-0 11-minutes before half-time to give Cluj a big three points.

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