INT uefa champions league draw

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Shakhtar D 2 - 2 Zenit

Rybka spot on for Shakhtar

Shakhtar Donetsk had goalkeeper Olexandr Rybka to thank as they emerged with a point from a thrilling Champions League Group G clash.

The home side twice led, through Willian and Luiz Adriano, but Zenit equalised through Roman Shirokov, whose earlier penalty Rybka had saved, and Viktor Faitzulin.

A point was the least the Russians deserved, though, as they had comfortably the better of the chances against their Ukrainian opposition, who remain bottom of the group with two points while their opponents are second on four.

Shakhtar's Douglas Costa curled an early free-kick wide before Shirokov saw his 25-yard shot tipped over by Rybka and then headed the resulting corner over.

The same player had a golden chance to open the scoring in the 10th minute when Dmitro Chygrynskiy's foul on Viktor Faitzulin gave Zenit a spot-kick, but his placed effort was saved by a diving Rybka.

Tomas Hubocan fired over for Zenit before the busy Rybka denied Danny from Shirokov's cross.

And the keeper's efforts were rewarded when his side took the lead on the quarter-hour when Jadson teed up fellow Brazilian Willian to curl home superbly from 20 yards.

Jadson himself went close before Danny twice tried his luck, Rybka parrying the second effort to safety.

Faitzulin smashed an effort against the post as the first half continued at a blistering pace, while Jadson's shot brought Zenit keeper Viacheslav Malafeev into action for the first time.

Shirokov atoned for his earlier miss with an equaliser in the 32nd minute, converting Alexander Bukharov's cross six yards out.

Douglas Costa had an effort blocked by Zenit defender Nicolas Lombaerts before Shakhtar restored their lead on the stroke of half-time, Razvan Rat crossing for Luiz Adriano to finish.

Lombaerts was again in the firing line straight from the restart when he blocked Luiz Adriano's close-range shot, and Jadson was off target twice as Shakhtar sought to kill the game off.

A route-one response saw Alexander Bukharov shoot wide, before the same player was denied by Darijo Srna's block.

Willian's effort was also blocked and, after Danny and Faitzulin went close, Zenit levelled once again when the latter brilliantly lobbed Rybka from 25 yards.

Malafeev punched away Douglas Costa's dangerous inswinging free-kick and parried Danny's effort before Chygrynskiy blocked Bukharov's overhead kick.

Rybka had one more stunning save up his sleeve, from Danny's point-blank header, with Chygrynskiy blocking Shirokov's follow-up. Faitzulin and Igor Denisov then also had efforts blocked as Shakhtar held on for a point.

 

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FC Porto 1 - 1 Apoel Nicosia

Ailton strike keeps Cypriots top

Brazilian Ailton struck a quickfire equaliser as this year's UEFA Champions League surprise package APOEL Nicosia grabbed a draw in Porto to keep them on top of Group G.

Six minutes after home striker Hulk had opened the scoring from a 20-yard free-kick, the visitors showed their mettle by grabbing their equaliser then proceeding to hold out for a valuable point.

It was not the kind of result the home side had in mind as they made a confident start, with Pinheiro Kleber bringing the first save out of visiting keeper Dionissis Chiotis with less than eight minutes on the clock.

Chiotis saved again from the same player two minutes later before Hulk's low, driven opener, which came after the goalscorer had been fouled by APOEL's William Boaventura on the edge of the box.

Ailton rifled the equaliser from 20 yards with the visitors' first chance and the goal stung Porto - who failed to make their possession count, with Pinheiro firing wide and Chiotis saving well from Cristian Sapunaru.

The busy Chiotis parried a drive from Hulk on 24 minutes before APOEL came close to snatching the lead when Marcelo Oliveira met a Nuno Morais corner in front of goal but headed inches wide.

Chiotis saved again from Kleber then from a wide free-kick by Hulk as the game approached half-time and a degree of frustration began to creep into the home side's play.

Chiotis was substituted five minutes into the second half and it didn't take his replacement Rafael Urko long to set about also frustrating the home strikeforce, saving well from Joao Moutinho.

Urko saved from Fernando Belluschi but Porto were also guilty of missing chances themselves, with Hulk flashing a long-range free-kick wide then heading a fine cross from Silvestre Varela over the bar.

Varela missed Porto's final chance in injury time when he headed wide from six yards and there was still time for APOEL to seek a winner, Aldo Adorno's close-range effort well saved by Helton in the home goal.

 

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Marseille 0 - 1 Arsenal

Ramsey strikes in injury time

Substitute Aaron Ramsey scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner to send Arsenal top of Group F at the expense of Champions League opponents Marseille.

Both sides had penalty shouts for handball turned down in a busy first half but the game had slowed to a crawl by the time Ramsey coolly slotted past Steve Mandanda with seconds remaining.

Ramsey had started on the bench due to concerns over a hamstring problem but was in the right place to continue his side's unbeaten run in Europe.

They now lead OM seven points to six and, in contrast to their faltering league form, are in control in Europe.

Things started nervily, with just four minutes gone when Alex Song mis-controlled the ball under pressure from Loic Remy, who briefly looked as though he would have a clear run on goal.

A foul from Song stopped him in his tracks and the subsequent yellow card was a price worth paying.

Marseille still had a dangerous free-kick to show for the error, but Mathieu Valbuena handed Wojciech Szczesny a simple save.

Arsenal put together a nice move of their own in the 10th minute, Song, Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott combining to offer Robin van Persie a first sight of goal, though his header wide was rendered irrelevant by an offside flag.

Benoit Cheyrou caught Arsenal off guard at a throw-in when he chipped toward goal, but his attempt continued over the crossbar.

Marseille were in the ascendance and had a strong penalty appeal for handball turned down when a cross struck Carl Jenkinson's arm.

The referee rejected the claim and promptly booked Andre Ayew for his reaction.

With 20 minutes gone Arsenal started to hit back and won a corner after a threatening run by Arteta was cut short by Nicolas N'Koulou's challenge.

Arteta's delivery from the left looked to have been handled too, this time by Souleymane Diawara, but once again there was no penalty decision. Instead, the ball found Van Persie and the Dutchman's looping header would have gone in were it not for Diawara, who was back in position to clear the danger legally.

The Gunners had visibly raised their game but a quick counter-attack nearly gave the hosts a 31st-minute lead.

Remy skipped past Per Mertesacker on the byline and shaped to cut in on goal, only for the covering Jenkinson to get a deflection on a shot that squirmed wide of the far post.

OM had other chances to break the deadlock before half-time, Laurent Koscielny making a last-ditch tackle on Remy and Lucho Gonzalez diverting Valbuena's cross just off target from close range.

Andre Santos, booked earlier for a body check, was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card just before the break when he needlessly pawed at the ball.

Arsenal looked to feed the ball wide to Andrey Arshavin as the second half got under way, but he was having little luck getting past Marseille right-back Cesar Azpilicueta.

It took a clever exchange of passes with Santos for the Russian to finally get away down the left but there was little support and the best he could manage was a tame centre.

Arsenal's back line made a meal of clearing Remy's 57th-minute cross, Jenkinson, Mertesacker and Song all trying - and failing - to get the ball away.

Gonzalez and Ayew were both hustling but neither had a clear shot on goal before Jenkinson finally launched upfield. It was his last act before being replaced by Johan Djourou in some discomfort.

With 63 minutes gone, the quiet Walcott caught N'Koulou in possession inside the penalty area but could not beat Mandanda at his near post.

The England winger, short of inspiration and service, made way for Gervinho soon after. Marseille boss Didier Deschamps also looked to his bench, replacing Remy with the fit-again Andre-Pierre Gignac with 20 minutes to go, but neither side looked overly keen to take a risk.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger shuffled his deck again in the closing stages, moving the ineffective Tomas Rosicky to the left and sending on Ramsey to occupy the space behind Van Persie. Some sloppy defending briefly alerted Gignac to a gap in the Arsenal line but he was outmuscled by the retreating Koscielny.

With moments remaining Djourou whipped a cross in from deep on the right touchline, with Gervinho failing to control it in the centre. Instead, the ball found Ramsey arriving at the far post and his finish was enough to steal an unlikely three points.

 

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Olympiakos 3 - 1 Borussia Dortmund

Greek tragedy for Dortmund

Olympiakos picked up their first points of the Champions League campaign and piled the pressure on German champions Borussia Dortmund with a comfortable victory in Athens tonight.

Jose Holebas put the Greeks in front after only eight minutes, and although Robert Lewandowski equalised in the 20th minute, Olympiakos finished the better of the two sides.

Rafik Djebbour restored their advantage six minutes before half-time, and with 11 minutes left Francois Modesto made sure of the points as he headed home, leaving Dortmund to contemplate the frustration of trying to get home through the ongoing public service strikes without any reward for their journey.

It was Dortmund who were on the attack first, with Ivan Perisic finding the arms of Franco Costanzo from close range before Shinji Kagawa blazed over.

But Olympiakos scored with their first attack as Ivan Marcano's cross picked out Holebas to head the ball low into the goal. The Greek side were lifted and continued to pour forward.

Marcano's shot was blocked by Lewandowski and Kevin Mirallas then headed over the bar as the chances continued to come.

But just as Olympiakos had scored against the run of play, so Dortmund equalised. Mario Gotze played the ball in for Lewandowski to fire home from the edge of the area.

That sparked a run of chances for Dortmund, but Kagawa missed the target with one shot before seeing another saved by Costanzo, and then Perisic had another effort kept out by the goalkeeper.

Olympiakos then got forward but Mirallas, having headed over earlier on, this time fired over when well placed. But he redeemed himself moments later as he crossed for Djebbour to fire into the top-left corner of the net. Djebbour then missed the target with another chance before half-time.

Jose Holebas tried his luck from long range early in the second half but missed the target, as did Marcel Schmelzer at the other end.

Francois Modesto's header was easy for Roman Weidenfeller to gather in the Dortmund goal, but his team-mates were struggling to trouble counterpart Costanzo as Lewandowski lashed over and Jakub Blaszczykowski sent a shot wide from the edge of the area.

Instead it was Olympiakos who finished much the stronger, adding the third goal to make sure of the points.

It came when Ariel Ibagaza crossed for Modesto to head home from close range.

There were further chances for Mirallas and Holebas, and while neither could find the target, it did not matter as Olympiakos collected three points to lift themselves off the bottom of the Group F table, to be replaced there by a Dortmund side yet to recapture the form that took them to the Bundesliga title last term.

 

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Chelsea 5 - 0 Racing Genk

Torres at the double for rampant Blues

Fernando Torres must wish he could face Genk's injury-ravaged defence every week after his first Champions League goals for two-and-a-half years helped Chelsea romp to a 5-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

The £50 million man made it four goals from his last four games to edge ever closer to putting his nightmare start to life in London behind him.

The Spaniard could easily have doubled his Chelsea tally on a night which saw Raul Meireles net his first goal for the club and Branislav Ivanovic and substitute Salomon Kalou also find the net.

The good news for Torres is that he has to wait less than a fortnight to face the same opponents, when a victory would all but certainly seal the Blues' passage from Group E.

How they might fare beyond that remains to be seen, with Barcelona the elephant in the room for any club with serious ambitions of becoming European champions.

On Tuesday Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas predicted the end of Barca's dominance of the club game but the question is whether his own side will be ready to capitalise when that eventually does happen.

The fans are certainly beginning to believe, with the threatened mass boycott of this game by those angry at ticket prices failing to materialise - Stamford Bridge packed almost to capacity for a European match.

It quickly became clear the 38,518 crowd would get value for money, despite the six changes that saw both captain John Terry and new talisman Juan Mata rested.

The 3,500 Genk supporters made more than their fair share of noise, their chants almost as colourful as the visitors' magenta strip.

They certainly enjoyed watching Torres somehow poke Nicolas Anelka's seventh-minute chip forward against the post, which briefly suggested another turbulent outing for the striker on his first appearance at Stamford Bridge since his moment of madness against Swansea.

Meireles spared his former Liverpool team-mate's blushes a minute later, the midfielder given an age to line up a shot from 25 yards which found the bottom corner.

Torres did not have to wait long to make amends for his miss either, Frank Lampard drifting all too easily into space and threading in the Spaniard, who calmly stroked the ball home.

Chelsea were hungry for more and while their passing did not bear comparison with Barcelona, their pressing high up the field did.

They were also breaking with pace and Khaleem Hyland was booked after resorting to a desperate lunge to halt the marauding Florent Malouda, who spent the entire night trying to back up his claim this week that he was worth a new contract.

After David Luiz was cautioned for a typically over-enthusiastic tackle on Jelle Vossen, Malouda should have made it 3-0 midway through the half but he sidefooted Torres' cutback wide with his weaker right foot.

Torres was also a constant menace and he duly bagged his first double for Chelsea in the 27th minute when he got in front of his marker to glance Meireles' cross beyond Laszlo Koteles.

Lampard missed a glorious chance from Torres' cross as the Blues put together their best football of the half, with Anelka also drilling wide.

The fourth goal arrived three minutes before the break, more shocking marking allowing Ivanovic to head in Malouda's free-kick from the right.

The only downside from Chelsea's dominance was Genk star Kevin De Bruyne being denied the chance to showcase the talent that has long seen him linked with the Blues.

He showed some neat touches in the second half as the home side eased off, withdrawing Ashley Cole during the interval, Lampard with 20 minutes remaining, and Bosingwa late on.

Otherwise, Chelsea might easily have added to their tally, with Torres failing to connect properly with Luiz's lofted ball, Malouda's run and shot saved by Malouda and Genk substitute Fabian Camus getting away with knocking Lampard over in the box.

Jose Bosingwa, Meireles and Kalou both sent long-range drives too close to Koteles before the latter made it 5-0 18 minutes from time.

It should have been Torres' hat-trick but Koteles saved from point-blank range, with Kalou coolly converting the rebound. Malouda headed over late on as he failed to cap his performance with a goal but the damage was already done.

 

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Bayer Leverkusen 2 - 1 Valencia

Bayer complete fightback

Bayer Leverkusen scored twice in the space of five second-half minutes to come from behind and claim a victory that tightened their grip on second place behind Chelsea in Champions League Group E.

Andre Schurrle cancelled out Jonas' first-half opener in the 52nd minute and four minutes, later Sidney Sam got the goal that would decide the match in Leverkusen's favour.

It left Valencia ruing their failure to make more of a first half that was essentially one-way traffic, with the Spaniards pouring forward to create chances at will.

Jeremy Mathieu had the first effort on the goal in the fourth minute but saw his shot blocked.

Moments later, Robert Soldado fired at goal from a corner but Simon Rolfes diverted the ball to safety.

Jonas' effort was blocked by Michal Kadlec before Ever Banega blazed over the bar.

Luis Miguel was the next to see an effort on goal blocked by the busy Leverkusen defence, before Mathieu brought a save out of Bernd Leno in the 14th minute.

Another shot from Banega was deflected away by Omar Toprak before Soldado added to Valencia's growing frustration when he struck a post.

The breakthrough was, however, only moments away, coming in the 24th minute when Soldado turned provider, crossing for Jonas to finish from close range.

Valencia did not let up, with Pablo Hernandez crossing for Soldado to head just over before Leno parried away Jonas' shot.

The goalkeeper was called into action again seconds later to push Hernandez's shot around the post.

Banega's corner was then met by Adil Rami but his header struck Rolfes and bounced to safety.

Leverkusen had not been seen as an attacking force, but Kadlec finally had an effort on goal in the 39th minute, only to see it blocked by Rami.

Schurrle went closer seconds later with a powerful volley from range, but Diego Alves was able to push it over the bar.

If Valencia did not spend the half-time break regretting their inability to add to their lead, they certainly were seven minutes after the restart when Kadlec crossed for Schurrle to fire home to equaliser.

Lars Bender then had a shot charged down and Sam fired wide before he completed the remarkable turnaround by latching on to Michael Ballack's pass to find the top left-hand corner of the net.

Soldado sought a quick response for Valencia but his close-range shot went wide right.

Leverkusen were looking for a third, but Sam's effort from just outside the area was held by Alves, as was another shot from Schurrle moments later.

Leno parried clear Soldado's strike and then held on to a header from Jonas as the action switched ends.

Sam blazed over from the edge of the area and a weak shot from Schurrle failed to trouble Alves before Jonas had the final chance at an equaliser, only to see his shot held by Leno.

 

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Gunners net last-gasp winner

Aaron Ramsey's coolly-taken strike two minutes into injury time gave Arsenal a much-needed 1-0 win against Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Ramsey, a second-half substitute, was in the right place at the right time to collect a deflected cross and fire a low drive beyond the despairing Steve Mandanda, as Arsene Wenger's side jumped to the top of Group F.

It was a difficult game for the Gunners in an intimidating atmosphere in the Stade Velodrome, although they arguably had the better of the second half prior to Ramsey's all-important intervention.

The home side were perhaps lucky to avoid giving away a penalty after two dubious handballs in the first half, although Carl Jenkinson was also guilty of a similar offence that probably should have been penalised.

Robin van Persie saw his looped header cleared off the line, but it wasn't until the second half that the Gunners exerted more control, with Theo Walcott unlucky in front of goal. But it was Ramsey who had the vital intervention, running onto the ball after it had deflected off Gervinho to give the visitors a win they were clearly delighted with.

Arsenal are now well positioned to qualify after Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 3-1 defeat to Olympiakos. Robert Lewandowski had cancelled out Jose Holebas's opener for the German champions, but Rafik Djebbour and then Francois Modesto got their names on the scoresheet to snatch all three points for the Greek side.

Chelsea cruised to an emphatic 5-0 win against Genk in Group E, as Fernando Torres found the net twice in an impressive performance.

The game was not even ten minutes old when midfielder Raul Meireles put the Blues ahead with a long-range strike, and Torres struck twice before the half-hour mark to put Andre Villas-Boas' men firmly in control. Branislav Ivanovic's header on the verge of half-time effectively secured the points, although substitute Salomon Kalou added some extra emphasis to the final scoreline with his close-range finish with 18 minutes remaining.

Belgian side Genk were given little hope of victory before the match, and the pessimism surrounding their chances was proven to be well placed when some shocking defending gave Meireles all the time in the world to take the ball on from midfield and fire a right-footed drive past goalkeeper Laszlo Koteles from 25-yards.

Three minutes later it was 2-0, as Torres latched onto Frank Lampard's ball to prod home, before the Spaniard, currently suspended from Premier League action, again showed his goalscoring touch has returned after a glorious header from Meireles' cross.

Ivanovic then made it four in similar fashion, this time from Malouda's cross, before Koteles came to the fore to keep the scoreline from getting out of hand. Nevertheless he was eventually beaten for a fifth time, as Kalou found himself in the right place at the right time to put the Blues in a strong position to qualify.

In the other game in Group E, Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to defeat Valencia 2-1 in Germany. Sidney Sam completed the turnaround for the home side, just five minutes after rising star Andre Schurrle had cancelled out Jonas's first-half strike.

Barcelona enjoyed complete dominance over Viktoria Plzen but had to settle for a 2-0 win courtesy of goals from Andres Iniesta and David Villa as Lionel Messi hit the woodwork several times.

AC Milan, Barca's Group H rivals, did enough to beat BATE Borisov 2-0 thanks to a first-half strike from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a stunning long-range effort from Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Shakhtar Donetsk drew 2-2 with Zenit St Petersburg - Willian and Luiz Adriano's efforts being cancelled out by efforts from Roman Shirokov and Viktor Faizulin - as group rivals APOEL Nicosia stayed at the top of the table after claiming an impressive 1-1 draw with FC Porto, as Hulk and Ailton Almeida got the goals.

 

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Wenger sees signs of recovery

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal have taken a step back up the ladder with victory at Marseille but has told his players that they must retain their focus.

Arsenal have made an awful start to the Premier League campaign, but Aaron Ramsey's late winner in France catapulted Wenger's men to the top of Champions League Group F.

Ramsey climbed off the bench to bag the winner and Wenger joked that a competition that has not been kind to him in the past may now be offering him some good fortune.

"We haven't always been lucky in this competition," Wenger said. "But my three subs combined for the goal. That makes me lucky.

"We lost a late goal to Dortmund and we lost the Champions League final (to Barcelona in 2006) in the final 10 minutes with 10 men.

"We have made a little step forward but we have to be humble. We are a team who has to continue to grow. It will help our confidence.

"If you look back at the last five or six games, you will see only one defeat. We are slowly getting there. This result will help."

 

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Ballack backs Dutt

Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Michael Ballack insisted the team's spirit is intact following a 2-1 win over Valencia in the Champions League.

The team included under-fire coach Robin Dutt in their celebrations at the end in a show of solidarity, following claims he had lost the faith and respect of some of his players since arriving from Freiburg in the summer.

Ballack told Sky television: "He (Dutt) is the main person responsible as he leads the team, sets us up and of course tells us the way to go. Today you could see how he, particularly when we had gone behind, pushed us all forwards, even in the dressing room.

"We are a good team, we have a good coach and we just need good results and self-confidence.''

The win was the first step in the right direction and Dutt was delighted with his side's performance against the Spanish giants.

"Of course it is nice when we can all celebrate together because we are a team after all,'' he said. "I am particularly delighted for the team, who worked very hard and they showed today that they have the willingness (to win).

"Often, they are being misrepresented. I have been protecting them constantly in recent weeks and I am pleased that they have now paid this back today.

"It can give us a boost to turn around a game against one of Europe's top teams.''

The win lifted Leverkusen up to second in Group E, one point behind the leaders Chelsea and four ahead of Valencia, who they meet again in Spain in a fortnight's time.

 

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Zorc disappointed with latest loss

Borussia Dortmund's director of sport Michael Zorc spoke of his frustration after another disappointing European night for the German champions, who he feels lack maturity at that level.

Dortmund struggled in the Europa League last season, going out at the group stage, and they are on course for a similar situation in the Champions League this year after losing 3-1 at Olympiacos in Athens.

That result left Dortmund bottom of Group F with just one point from three games, with Arsenal leading the way on seven points, one ahead of second-placed Marseille.

Zorc believes a lack of experience is part of the problem, telling Sky television: "Of course we are lacking a bit of maturity at this level.

"We marched through the Bundesliga last year and intentionally refrained from signing some expensive experienced player (in the summer).

"However, we thought that we would mature a lot quicker than we are. It was a frustrating night for us.''

The frustration was not only reserved to the pitch with many Dortmund officials not even venturing to the stadium as the public unrest and mass protests in Athens made them prisoners in their own hotel.

Dortmund's general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke questioned whether the game should have been allowed to go ahead at all.

"Many colleagues and sponsors were right in the middle of the war zone,'' he told Sky television. "It was dramatic. They were extremely scared.

"The hotel told them that they could only go to the bottom two floors of the hotel with a gas mask on because tear gas was streaming inside through the windows.

"They were truly scared and some of them did not come to the stadium because they just did not want to venture out.

"Maybe more consideration should have been given (to whether the game should have been played).''