Champions League Roundup - Nov 4th, 2010
It was a goal glut in the Champions League last night as no less than 53 goals were scored in 8 matches. Only on 5 occasions before had there been more goals scored as the fans were entertained to the core with a breathtaking display of attacking football.
Chelsea continued to be in imperious form on all fronts as they thrashed Spartak Moscow 4-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea made it 4 wins out of 4 as goals from Anelka, a Didier Drgba penalty and a brace from Branislav Ivanovic helped the London Blues maintain their 100% record in the Champions League.
Substitute Nikita Bazhenov netted for the visitors but it could only be a consolation as Chelsea made sure that they qualify for the knockout stages of the competition with 2 games to spare.
In another match of the night, Ex-Arsenal striker Eduardo came back to haunt his ex-employers as he grabbed the winner against Gunners in Ukraine.
Arsenal took the lead mid way through the first half when they broke away with mesmeric pace before slotting home the opener with remarkable ease.
But, the hosts fought back from a goal down to end the Gunners’ 100% record in the competition.
Dmytro Chygrynskiy's header was diverted into his own net by Craig Eastmond to give Shakhtar the equalizer at the Donbass Arena and midway through the second half, Eduardo scored what proved to be the winner on the night.
The performance of the night came in Hungary where Didier Deschamps’ Marseille boasted their chances of qualification by slamming 7 past a hapless Zilina side.
Andre Pierre Gignac was the hero for the French side as he scored a hat trick on the night while Gabriel Heinze, Loic Remy and Lucho Gonzalez with two, got the other goals on the night
The French powerhouse is now level on points with Spartak on 6 points and the spot in the next round will depend on the outcome of the game between the two sides when they meet on Match day 5.
Another side whose 100% record ended last night was Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid as they could only muster a draw at the San Siro against AC Milan.
Real, despite dominating the early stages of the game, wasted plenty of gilt edged chances but eventually went in front when Angel Di Maria found Gonzalo Higuain free in the box and the Argentine made no mistake from close range.
Massimiliano then brought on his lethal striker Filippo Inzaghi and two goals from the Italian in the space of 10 minutes turned the tide in favour of the hosts.
But, Pedro Leon rescued his side late in injury time with an equalizer that made sure of Real’s progress into the next round while condemning AC to an ugly three way fight for qualification with both Ajax and Auxerre in contention.
In the same group, Auxerre reignited their hopes of qualification with a 2-1 win over Ajax Amsterdam and in the process denting the Dutch side’s aspirations.
Frederic Sammaritano scored the quickest goal of the night as he gave Auxerre the lead and although, Alderweireld grabbed an equalizer 10 minutes from time but still, Steven Langil made sure that Ajax were leaving France empty handed last night.
Also maintaining a 100% record in the competition were last year’s finalists, Bayern Munich as they piled on the misery on CFR Cluj with a 4-0 thrashing.
Mario Gomez bagged the second hat trick of the night and Thomas Mueller added a third as they made sure that their side romped to a place in the last 16 of the competition.
AS Roma are best placed to join the German giants in the last 16 from this group as the Italians won a pulsating encounter in Switzerland 3-2 against FC Basel.
In the last match of the night, SC Braga defeated Partizan Belgrade in Portugal to give themselves a glimmer of hope for qualification into the next round.
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