Juan Mata returns home to Valencia as his new side fall at the final furlong, Arsene Wenger pick up the three points at home to Greek visitors and Cypriot champions find themselves sitting pretty at the top of Group G.
Those are just a few short snippets from last night’s action, so follow us as we further dissect the highs and lows of yesterday’s eight UEFA Fantasy Champions League fixtures…
Zenit Victorious
Reigning Europa League holders FC Porto started the second day of action by paying a visit to Zenit St. Petersburg in the early kick-off. Ten minutes in and, rather fortuitously, the Portuguese champions were the first to cheer when James Rodriguez was [slightly offside and] on the end of a Hulk cross to take the lead.
The game went downhill from thereon for the visitors, though; Roman Shirokov was on hand to score for Zenit after a wayward parry by Porto goalkeeper Helton and a short spell later, striker Kleber took a tumble leading to what looked like a dislocated shoulder. Matters got even worse just before half time, when Jorge Fucile picked up a second yellow card for a handball and was subsequently sent off.
The second half saw the home side come out of the traps and, against ten men, the only question was how many goals they could score. A little lack of sure-footedness in front of goal meant that only two more were added- Shirokov scored his second before Danny was rewarded for a positive display, tapping in from a yard when an Alexander Kerzhakov ball ended at his feet. Kerzhakov was particularly wasteful- he had 9 shots at goal, with just 1 on target.
Chelsea Have No Kalou
For much of 2011 Fernando Torres has been producing performances far below hopes and expectations. Last night he finally played at his utmost best for pretty much the duration of his time on the pitch and was unfortunate to come up against someone in even better form, in the shape of Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves.
A classic European stalemate suddenly stepped up a few gears in the second half when wise words from Andre Villas-Boas evidently urged his team to take the game to the home side. Chelsea rallied and constantly peppered the Valencia goal and eventually their dominance paid off as Florent Malouda crossed into the box to Frank Lampard (both restored to the starting line-up) to fire home from 12 yards out.
Salomon Kalou was brought on late in the game and unfortunately for the visitors, he had an immediate effect- the Ivorian’s first touch of the game came from his arm and granted Valencia a penalty which Roberto Soldado duly converted to make honours even.
Gunners Hold Out
Shrewsbury Town, Bolton Wanderers and Olympiacos. Arsenal have now won three games on the spin but Arsene Wenger’s side made hard work of their Emirates clash with the Greek side last night. Robin Van Persie and Aaron Ramsey made brief sub appearances at the end, as Marouane Chamakh and Tomas Rosicky came back into the fold.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos were also given run-outs and grabbed the goals in the 2-1 win, with the former scoring in his first Champions League start from an Alex Song assist.
David Fuster pulled one back for the visitors, heading home from an Ariel Ibagaza cross and although Vassilis Torosidis hit the bar halfway through the second half, Arsenal’s goal lived a somewhat charmed life as they held on for the three points and a confidence boost ahead of Sunday’s trip to Spurs.
Barcelona Batter Borisov
Pep Guardiola took his Barcelona side to face the Bulgarian champions but nothing much changed as far as performances are concerned. Cesc Fabregas was left on the bench but that wasn’t going to stop Barcelona romping home to a five-nil victory. Lionel Messi even found time to encroach on another record as he joined László Kubala in second place of Barca’s all-time scorers list with another brace.
It was an own goal from a Dani Alves (who also assisted Messi’s second) supply on the right that kicked off proceedings before Pedro grabbed another for the visitors. The World Player of the Year then did his thing before David Villa made it five late in the game. Xavi was at the heart of much of the action as he made a staggering 114 successful passes (out of 119) in 59 minutes on the pitch.
L’Om Cruise Past Dortmund
The German champions travelled to Marseille with plenty hope- their hosts have made a dreadful start to the Ligue 1 campaign. A different Marseille side were to be found, however, as Loic Remy and Andre Ayew orchestrated a 3-0 victory in which Dortmund failed to respond but for a late, and fruitless, rally at Steve Mandanda’s goal. Ayew scored two goals to pick up 10 points while Remy picked up the same returns for setting up the first, scoring the second before earning the penalty which rounded out the game.
The game ended on a slightly sour note for the home side as Jordan Ayew, a second half substitute and younger brother of goalscorer Andre, was sent off towards the end, picking up a second yellow card for diving.
Ibra Back And In The Thick Of It
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was back in the AC Milan squad earlier than expected and lead from the front as he charged the Rossonneri to victory over Viktoria Plzen.
Much to our disappointment Massimo Allegri left Alberto Aquilani in favour of Clarence Seedorf. Perhaps we should have taken heed of our own previous Scout Report where we outlined the often preferred grafters in midfield.
An early second half hand-ball in the visitors’ box allowed Milan to break the deadlock; Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted the penalty that followed. The Swede then turned provider a little over 10 minutes later when his fine hold-up play allowed Antonio Cassano to ghost through and notch the second goal in a comfortable 2-0 win.
Leverkusen Get The Job Done
Picking themselves up after a defeat at Stamford Bridge in the previous Matchday, Leverkusen recorded a clean sheet and a couple of goals to pick up their first victory of the Champions League campaign.
Lars Bender got Bayer off the mark when a loose ball fell kindly for him to slot neatly into the far corner. The second and final goal of a 2-0 victory had to wait until injury time when a Michael Ballack volley took a large enough deflection to just sneak past the creeping hands of Laszlo Koteles in goal.
APOEL FC. Table Toppers
After two Matches against the Eastern Bloc of Zenit and Shakhtar the Cypriot champions APOEL FC stand tall as the surprise early leaders in this hotly-contested Champions League group.
After battening down the hatches for the Ukrainian assault, APOEL then caught Shakhtar off guard when a wonderful passing move was finished with aplomb by Ivan Trickovski to gave the visitors a shock lead. The hosts responded swiftly and when a cross into the box landed at the feet of Jadson ten yards out of goal there wasn’t any question where the ball was going to end up.
