Wednesday, 3 November 2010

Champions League Round-Up 2/11/10

The fourth match day is the earliest stage where a team can be guaranteed progression into the second round or be eliminated from the competition:
Group A: After a great second half display last time, Gareth Bale was instrumental again for Tottenham as they managed to beat Champions Inter Milan. Rafael Van Der Vaart continued to impress as he opened the scoring after 18 minutes. Peter Crouch then doubled their lead just after the hour mark. Eto'o pulled one back with ten minutes to go but substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko made the score 3-1 in the final minute of normal time. This leaves both teams on seven points at the top of the group.

Werder Bremen's hopes of progression are almost shattered after losing 2-0 at home to FC Twente. Bremen were down to men with fourteen minutes left when Torsten Frings was sent off. Twente made the advantage count as Nacer Chadli scored in the 81st minute before Luuk De Jong doubled the score three minutes later. This leaves Bremen on just two points, meaning they have to win their final two games or they will face elimination. Twente are on five points, just two behind the leaders.

Group B: Hapoel Tel-Aviv earned their first point of the group but look almost certain to be eliminated after a 0-0 draw with FC Shalke. Shalke now have seven points and currently sit in second place.

Benfica hosted Lyon in the most entertaining match of the night. The Portuguese giants went 3-0 ahead at half-time; Alan Kardec opened the scoring after 20 minutes, Fabio Coentrao doubled their lead eleven minutes later then Javi Garcia scored the third two minutes before the break. Coentrao then made it 4-0 after 67 minutes before Lyon fought back in a frantic fifteen minutes. Gourcuff pulled the first one back before Bafetimbi Gomis scored a second with five minutes remaining. Lyon made it 4-3 in injury time with a goal from defender Dejan Lovren as Lyon drop their first points of the campaign, staying on nine. Benfica now move to within a point of Shalke on six.

Group C: Valencia virtually stopped Rangers' chances of winning the group after beating 3-0 in the Mestalla. Soldado opened the scoring after 34 minutes before then doubling the lead after 71 minutes. Ricardo Costa added the third in second half injury time. The win gives Valencia seven points with Rangers on five.

That result meant that Manchester United were virtually through with a 3-0 win over Bursapor who became the first team to be eliminated from the competition. They are still the only team yet to score with United still yet to concede, only Real Madrid share that accolade. Darren Fletcher opened the scoring three minutes into the second half. Gabriel Obertan scored his first Manchester United goal after 73 minutes with substitute Bebe scoring his second in as many games four minutes later. United are now on ten points with Bursapor yet to score.

Group D: The early kick-off saw a 0-0 draw between Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos. This leaves Rubin with virtually no chance, mathematically, to win group on three points. Panathinaikos are virtually eliminated with only tow points, meaning they have to beat Copenhagen and Barcelona to progress.

Barcelona are almost guaranteed progression with a 1-1 draw against Copenhagen. Lionel Messi put Barcelona ahead after 31 minutes only for it to be cancelled out by Domingues De Souza two minutes later. This leaves Barcelona on ten points with Copenhagen on seven.

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