Champions League Round-Up (8th-9th December)
Jav December 9, 2009
There has been 4 Champions League matches involving English teams that have taken place - here are the match reports:
Tuesday 8th December
Wolfsburg 1-3 Manchester Utd
Michael Owen showed the reson why he should be in the England squad - a well-taken hat-trick in Germany with a depleted side. Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher were playing in defence, with regular duo Ferdidnand and Vidic out with injury. The game was quite quiet in the first half, with the makeshift defence coping reasonably well. But it was Owen who gave United the lead, with a quality header from the cross of Nani. Wolfsburg however, did not give up, and got their equaliser in the 56th minute with Edin Dzeko putting cross into the box away. Owen got his second in the 83rd minute, after some phenomenal trickery by youngster Gabriel Obertan, beating 4 players, before some excellent movement by Owen saw him unmarked with an open goal. He finished it. Obviously. He finished off his hat-trick with a breakaway goal, collected the ball down the left flank, and outpaced the trailing defenders, and completed the goal with a chipped finish. Fabio Capello must take note.
Chelsea 2-2 Apoel Nicosia
Chelsea ended their campaign top of the group with a draw. Carlo Ancelotti put out a weak team, and the visitors took an unexpected lead in the first 10 minutes, Marcin Zewlakow defying the offside claims to finish. This did not last long however, and Michael Essien beat a defender before smashing in an unstoppable shot into the corner, giving "The Bison/Train" another quality goal to add to his collection. 7 minutes later, Dider Drogba gave the Blues a lead with a precise left footed finish into the bottom corner, yet another goal for the Ivorian, who has been looking threatening all season. Chelsea looked to be cantering to a win, but in the 87th minute, Mirosavljevic took the ball off Obi Mikel, and broke away to give Apoel a consolation point. A major blow for Chelsea is that goalscorer Essien had to be subbed just after the second Chelsea goal for Frank Lampard, and is expected to be out for nearly a month with a hamstring injury. He is set to miss January anyway, with the African Cup of Nations taking place then.
Other Results
Atletico Madrid 0-3 FC Porto
Besiktas 1-2 CSKA Moscow
FC Zurich 1-1 AC Milan
Juventus 1-4 Bayern Munich
Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Bordeaux
Marseille 1-3 Real Madrid
Wednesday 9th December
Liverpool 1-2 Fiorentina
Fiorentina snatched a late Anfield victory against the already-knocked-out Liverpool with an Alberto Gilardino goal. Liverpool gave some reserves run-out, Stephen Darby and Diego Cavalieri getting rare appearances, but it was all about Alberto Aquilani, making a long-awaited first start. The Italian impressed with some good touches and passes, as Liverpool put in a good performance early on. Steven Gerrard in particular was looking threatening with his deadly crosses from the right wing, which Fiorentina did struggle on occasions with. And it was from a Gerrard free-kick where Liverpool took the lead, his cross being flicked on and into the far corner by Yossi Benayoun, who was completely unmarked. In the second half, the game continued to be quick-paced, and the team from Florence got their goal with Martin Jorgensen scoring an inaugural Champions League goal with an unstoppable left-footed shot. Fernando Torres came on for Kuyt after this goal, receiving a lively reception, but was not able to pick the lock to the Fiorentina goal. Daniel Pacheco came on for Aquilani, who did well in his first start, and nearly scored with his second touch. However, it was the away team who went home happier, as they took advantage of a dallying Stephen Darby, with a simple square to Gilardino and a good finish leaving Liverpool with 7 points, their worst ever Champions League tally in the group stages. Luckily for Liverpool, this didn't matter. That much.
Olympiakos 1-0 Arsenal
The Arsenal kids fell to a slightly disappointing loss (well, Arsene Wenger thought that the better team lost. As they do with him.) Players such as Tom Cruise and Kyle Bartley getting a game. They held their own in the first half, with Theo Walcott having an inconsistent game, mixing occasional brilliance with fail as he led the Gunners' attack. Arsenal wasted several good chances to score. The home team took the lead in the second half, Leonardo nutmegging goalkeeper Fabianski. Arsenal did create a lot of opportunities, but wasteful finishing was their downfall. Aaron Ramsey almost snatched a late equaliser, but it was that man Leonardo who was there to clear the shot off the line. Arsenal fell to defeat in Mission Impossible (PUN!
), with their 1st XI beating the record for the youngest starting XI in the Champions League. Olympiakos managed to gain more than just the point they needed to qualify.
Other Results
Dynamo Kiev 1-2 Barcelona
Inter Milan 2-0 Rubin Kazan
Lyon 4-0 Debrecen
Sevilla 1-0 Rangers
Standard Liege 1-1 AZ Alkmaar
VfB Stuttgart 3-1 Unirea Urziceni
Tuesday 8th December
Wolfsburg 1-3 Manchester Utd
Michael Owen showed the reson why he should be in the England squad - a well-taken hat-trick in Germany with a depleted side. Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher were playing in defence, with regular duo Ferdidnand and Vidic out with injury. The game was quite quiet in the first half, with the makeshift defence coping reasonably well. But it was Owen who gave United the lead, with a quality header from the cross of Nani. Wolfsburg however, did not give up, and got their equaliser in the 56th minute with Edin Dzeko putting cross into the box away. Owen got his second in the 83rd minute, after some phenomenal trickery by youngster Gabriel Obertan, beating 4 players, before some excellent movement by Owen saw him unmarked with an open goal. He finished it. Obviously. He finished off his hat-trick with a breakaway goal, collected the ball down the left flank, and outpaced the trailing defenders, and completed the goal with a chipped finish. Fabio Capello must take note.
Chelsea 2-2 Apoel Nicosia
Chelsea ended their campaign top of the group with a draw. Carlo Ancelotti put out a weak team, and the visitors took an unexpected lead in the first 10 minutes, Marcin Zewlakow defying the offside claims to finish. This did not last long however, and Michael Essien beat a defender before smashing in an unstoppable shot into the corner, giving "The Bison/Train" another quality goal to add to his collection. 7 minutes later, Dider Drogba gave the Blues a lead with a precise left footed finish into the bottom corner, yet another goal for the Ivorian, who has been looking threatening all season. Chelsea looked to be cantering to a win, but in the 87th minute, Mirosavljevic took the ball off Obi Mikel, and broke away to give Apoel a consolation point. A major blow for Chelsea is that goalscorer Essien had to be subbed just after the second Chelsea goal for Frank Lampard, and is expected to be out for nearly a month with a hamstring injury. He is set to miss January anyway, with the African Cup of Nations taking place then.
Other Results
Atletico Madrid 0-3 FC Porto
Besiktas 1-2 CSKA Moscow
FC Zurich 1-1 AC Milan
Juventus 1-4 Bayern Munich
Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Bordeaux
Marseille 1-3 Real Madrid
Wednesday 9th December
Liverpool 1-2 Fiorentina
Fiorentina snatched a late Anfield victory against the already-knocked-out Liverpool with an Alberto Gilardino goal. Liverpool gave some reserves run-out, Stephen Darby and Diego Cavalieri getting rare appearances, but it was all about Alberto Aquilani, making a long-awaited first start. The Italian impressed with some good touches and passes, as Liverpool put in a good performance early on. Steven Gerrard in particular was looking threatening with his deadly crosses from the right wing, which Fiorentina did struggle on occasions with. And it was from a Gerrard free-kick where Liverpool took the lead, his cross being flicked on and into the far corner by Yossi Benayoun, who was completely unmarked. In the second half, the game continued to be quick-paced, and the team from Florence got their goal with Martin Jorgensen scoring an inaugural Champions League goal with an unstoppable left-footed shot. Fernando Torres came on for Kuyt after this goal, receiving a lively reception, but was not able to pick the lock to the Fiorentina goal. Daniel Pacheco came on for Aquilani, who did well in his first start, and nearly scored with his second touch. However, it was the away team who went home happier, as they took advantage of a dallying Stephen Darby, with a simple square to Gilardino and a good finish leaving Liverpool with 7 points, their worst ever Champions League tally in the group stages. Luckily for Liverpool, this didn't matter. That much.
Olympiakos 1-0 Arsenal
The Arsenal kids fell to a slightly disappointing loss (well, Arsene Wenger thought that the better team lost. As they do with him.) Players such as Tom Cruise and Kyle Bartley getting a game. They held their own in the first half, with Theo Walcott having an inconsistent game, mixing occasional brilliance with fail as he led the Gunners' attack. Arsenal wasted several good chances to score. The home team took the lead in the second half, Leonardo nutmegging goalkeeper Fabianski. Arsenal did create a lot of opportunities, but wasteful finishing was their downfall. Aaron Ramsey almost snatched a late equaliser, but it was that man Leonardo who was there to clear the shot off the line. Arsenal fell to defeat in Mission Impossible (PUN!
), with their 1st XI beating the record for the youngest starting XI in the Champions League. Olympiakos managed to gain more than just the point they needed to qualify.Other Results
Dynamo Kiev 1-2 Barcelona
Inter Milan 2-0 Rubin Kazan
Lyon 4-0 Debrecen
Sevilla 1-0 Rangers
Standard Liege 1-1 AZ Alkmaar
VfB Stuttgart 3-1 Unirea Urziceni
