Tuesday, 23 October 2012

United Come From Behind Again, Chelsea Lose, Celtic Suffer Late Heartbreak

Group E: Chelsea's hopes of retaining the Champions League suffered a blow away to Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian hosts found themselves ahead after just three minutes through Alex Teixeira, his second of the tournament. Fernandinho made it 2-0 seven minutes into the second half before Oscar pulled one back two minutes from time. Another disappointment for Chelsea saw Frank Lampard substituted in the first half after sustaining an ankle injury and may be a doubt against Manchester United on Sunday.
Juventus remain unbeaten so far this season despite not actually winning a game in Europe. They were almost victims of a shock defeat when Mikkel Beckmann put Nordsjaelland ahead five minutes into the second half. But the point was rescued nine minutes from time when Mirko Vucinic equalised. It gives the Danes their first ever Champions League point. Mid-way table:
Shakhtar Donetsk 7
Chelsea                4
Juventus               3
FC Nordsjaelland 1

Group F: Valencia halt BATE's 100% record with a comfortable victory in Bulgaria. Roberto Soldado was Valencia's hero with a hat-trick. He broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in first half injury time. Soldado then doubled Valencia's lead ten minutes into the second half before completing his hat-trick on 69-minutes.
Lille remain pointless as Bayern Munich keep three teams locked at the top together. The only goal of the game from the penalty spot on 20-minutes where Thomas Muller was on hand to convert it. Mid-way table:
Valencia          6
BATE Borisov 6
Bayern Munich 6
Lille OSC        0

Group G: It was heartbreak for Celtic as they suffered defeat with the final kick of the game in Camp Nou. Giorgos Samaras scored his second goal of the competition to put Celtic ahead with a deflected header from a free-kick on 18-minutes. A classic Barcelona move was then finished off by Andres Iniesta to level the game just before half-time. Celtic did extremely well to hold on as Fraser Forster pulled off some magnificent saves and Barcelona hit the post. But a cross from Jordi Alba managed to beat everyone including Forster to find the corner of the net and crush Celtic with the last kick of the game.
Spartak Moscow score two goals for the third time this competition but have finally won their first game. Rafael Carioca put the Russian hosts ahead of Benfica after just three minutes. Benfica's first goal of the tournament saw Rodrigo Lima equalise on 33-minutes. A Mario Jardel own goal two minutes before half-time was enough to give Spartak the victory. Mid-way table:
Barcelona           9
Celtic                  4
Spartak Moscow 3 
Benfica                1

Group H: Manchester United retain their 100% start but had to do it the hard way at home to Braga. Alan scored his second goal of the tournament to give the Portuguese visitors a shock lead in under two minutes. It got worse for United when their makeshift back four were pulled apart again to allow Alan to head home his second goal of the match after 20-minutes. United managed to pull one back five minutes later through Javier Hernandez. Jonny Evans scored his first ever Champions League goal at the second attempt to equalise on 62-minutes. Hernandez then headed home a Tom Cleverley corner to steal the three points wit 15-minutes remaining.
Galatasaray pick up their first point of the season with a draw at home to Cluj. Dany Nounkeu put the ball into his own net to give Cluj the lead after 19-minutes. The Romanians then made it hard for themselves when Matias Aguirregaray got himself sent off two minutes before the half hour mark. But it took until the 77th minute for the Turkish side to take advantage when Burak Yilmaz scored their first goal in this competition. Mid-way table:
Manchester United 9
CFR Cluj               4
Braga                     3
Galatasaray            1

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