Tuesday 4 December 2012

Arsenal End With Defeat As City Make History

Group A: The battle to see who came out on top of Group A ended with an absolute goalkeeping howler. PSG took the lead in front of their home crowd just before the half hour mark courtesy of a Thiago Silva header from a corner, his second of the tournament. Jackson Martinez would equalise with his third goal of the competition just four minutes later. The winner came just after the hour mark when an Ezequiel Lavezzi shot was initially saved by Helton before the keeper somehow lost his grip and turning the ball into his own net even though he was positioned just past the post.
It's taken Dinamo Zagreb six games but they finally secure their one and only point of the campaign by scoring their only goal of the tournament, 545 minutes since they kicked off the group stage, and even that came via the penalty spot. After a snow delay, the game kicked off and Andriy Yarmolenko would put Kyiv ahead in first half injury time. The Croatians were then awarded a penalty in the 96th minute which Ivan Kristanovic managed to convert. Final Table:

1. Paris St.Germain 15 +11
2. FC Porto            13 +6
3. Dynamo Kyiv        5 -4
4. Dinamo Zagreb      1 -13

Group B: With Arsenal already guaranteed a place in the next round, Arsene Wenger decided to experiment on his trip to Greece. It began looking like a good experiment when Tomas Rosicky fired Arsenal ahead seven minutes before half-time. Olympiacos were much better in the second half and got their equaliser in the 65th minute through Giannis Maniatis. The Greeks would then win the match eight minutes later as Kostas Mitroglu posted his fourth goal of the tournament.
Schalke go through as group winners and progress undefeated for the first time in their history. They played Montpellier in France in the final game and took the lead through Benedikt Howedes 11-minutes into the second half, his second of the competition. Schalke's lead lasted for three minutes though as Emmanuel Herrera was on hand to secure Montpellier's second point of the tournament. Final Table:

1. FC Schalke 04 12 +4
2. Arsenal             10 +2
3. Olympiacos        9   0
4. Montpellier         2 -6

Group C: Malaga win the group undefeated after a draw at home to Anderlecht. Duda put the hosts ahead just before half-time before Milan Jovanovich equalised five minutes after the restart. Duda once again put Malaga in front just after the hour mark, only for Dieudonne Mbokani to equalise again just before the end, scoring his second goal of the tournament.
AC Milan end a very inconsistent group stage with defeat against Zenit in the San Siro. Fortunately, the Italians were already through so it didn't matter too much when Danny won the game for the Russians ten minutes before half-time with his second goal of the competition. Final Table:

1. Malaga                  12 +7
2. AC Milan                8 +1
3. Zenit St.Petersburg  7 -3
4. RSC Anderlecht      5 -5

Group D: Manchester City become the first English club in the history of the Champions League to exit the competition without winning a single game. City have proven once again that they can't seem to play away in Europe as they lost in Dortmund. The only goal of the game came from Julian Schieber 12-minutes into the second half. If Bayern win their group tomorrow, there will be three German group winners this campaign.
Real Madrid end their group stage with a convincing victory over Ajax. Cristiano Ronaldo put Madrid ahead after just 13-minutes to chalk up his sixth goal of the tournament. Jose Callejon fired a second on 28-minutes before Kaka became the highest scoring Brazilian in the Champions League, overtaking Rivaldo, by making it 3-0 four minutes into the second half. Derk Boerrigter pulled one back for Ajax ten minutes later but Callejon wrapped things up with two minutes left by making it seven goals in his nine Champions League appearances. Final Table:

1. Borussia Dortmund 14 +6
2. Real Madrid            11 +6
3. Ajax                         4 -8
4. Manchester City        3 -4  

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