Champions League round-up: Arsenal shock Bayern Munich, Chelsea held by Dynamo Kiev, Barcelona win
Arsenal produced a spectacular late salvo as they beat huge favorites Bayern Munich 2-0 in their group stage encounter. Chelsea meanwhile were held to an intriguing draw in Ukraine but there were no other upsets on the night as all of Barcelona, Zenit St Petersburg, Valencia and Porto registered comfortable victories.
The match of the night unfolded in Germany; Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma fought out a pulsating 4-4 draw as both teams deservedly shared the spoils.
Group E
Hosts Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma were involved in a game with ever-changing fortunes in what turned out to be a thriller which ended 4-4. Both teams started out strongly but it was the home team which took the lead through former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez from the penalty spot. Hernandez doubled his tally for the night when he capitalised on a defensive error to score past the Roma keeper.
In-form Daniel de Rossi then scored twice to bring Roma on level terms. Roma then made it 4-2 with a wonderful free kick from Miralem Pjanic and a neat finish from Iago Falque. But Leverkusen showed great resolve as they fought back to cancel the deficit through a delightful strike from Kampl and a tap-in from Mehmedi.
FC Barcelona had a fairly comfortable outing away against FC BATE Borisov, emerging with a 2-0 victory. Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic scored twice in the second half to give Barcelona all three points. Sergi Roberto and Neymar provided assists for Rakitic to score and put Barcelona at the top of their group.
Group F
The story of the night came out of the Emirates in London as Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 2-0 to kick-start their Champions League campaign. This was Arsenal’s first victory in the competition this season. Bayern started the game the better of the two, but it was Arsenal who had the best of the chances as Manuel Neuer effected an unbelievable save off a Theo Walcott header.
The opening goal came from substitute Olivier Giroud as he bundled in the ball past Neuer from a free kick. Though there was a hint of the use of the arm by the French forward. Mesut Ozil put the game to bed as he finished off a quick counter-attack to take the game past Bayern.
Greek club Olympiakos pulled off another narrow away win as they beat Dinamo Zagreb 1-0. The only goal of the match came late in the second half through Ideye on 79 minutes. The Greeks are now level with Bayern Munich on points but stand second only on goal difference
Group G
FC Porto produced a commanding display as they beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv 2-0 at home. The Portuguese powerhouses produced a dominant first half display with goals from Vincent Aboubakar and Brahimi to kill the game off early. Porto held on to their lead and go top of their group after three matches.
Chelsea returned home with a well-deserved point in a hard fought match against Ukrainian club Dynamo Kiev in the only goalless game off the night. Jose Mourinho’s men probably deserved to win the game towards the end, but he will be happy not to come away empty handed. Jose will also be hard done as the referee failed to give his team an arguably blatant penalty.
Group H
Zenit St Petersburg continued their impressive form in the Champions League with a 3-1 win over struggling Lyon at home. The Russians were dominant throughout with goals from Dzyuba, Danny and Hulk with the latter scoring with an exquisite finish. The French had no answer to Zenit’s tactics even though Alexander Lacazette had pulled them level early in the second half. Zenit now top the group as they have won all three of their games so far.
Valencia won their home game against group minnows AA Gent as the visitors were undone with two own goals in the game. Nielsen provided the opener for a grateful Valencia after scoring into his own net. But the visitors restored parity in the 42nd minute through Foket. But tragedy struck for the Belgian club as they conceded a second own goal of the night through Mitrovic on 72 minutes.