By Alexia Krause
 |
| Barcelona FC leave it late to defeat promising Celtic at Nou Camp |
MADRID, Spain
(TheSportsNEXT) October 23, 2012: Jordi Alba struck an injury time goal to
save the day for Barcelona who defeated Celtic by two goals to one in their
Group G encounter of the UEFA Champions League 2012 at the Nou Camp on Tuesday
night.
Celtic looked in the mood and groove to stun the Spanish
soccer giants when Georgios Samaras gave them the lead in 18th
minute and they kept challenging the authority of the reigning La Liga
champions right throughout the game.
However, the veteran Spaniard Andres Iniesta equalized just at
the stroke of half-time and the game failed to give birth to any more goals
until four minutes into the injury time when defender Alba managed to sneak a
cross by Adriano into the net to seal a dramatic victory for the Barca.
Following are the official reports by FIFA website for the
other UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday night.
Galatasaray 1-1 Cluj
Galatasaray claimed the first point in their UEFA Champions
League campaign as they came from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Cluj in
Istanbul.
However, it could have been even better for the Turkish
side, who missed a first-half penalty and still have it all to do to dislodge
their opponents on the night from second place in Group H and progress to the
knockout stages.
It was a frustrating evening for the hosts, with Dany
Nounkeu putting through his own net to give Cluj a 19th-minute lead before
Felipe Melo missed a penalty ten minutes before half-time. Galatasaray
dominated the second half and got their reward through Burak Yilmaz 13 minutes
from time, but they could not force a winner.
Galatasaray started the game without a point from their
opening two matches against Manchester United and Braga, making the encounter a
must-win for the Turks.
Nicolas Godemeche shot over after just 19 seconds and Rafael
Bastos' effort went wide less than a minute later as Cluj went on the attack
from the outset. Bastos again shot wide and Galatasaray went down the other
end, with Umut Bulut shooting over.
The hosts almost took the lead after 12 minutes with Hamit
Altintop's 25-yard shot, which Mario Felgueiras did well to repel in the Cluj
goal. Seven minutes later Cluj were ahead, Nounkeu putting into his own net
from 12 yards.
Altintop again tested Felgueiras as the hosts looked to
respond, with Nordin Amrabat shooting over. And ten minutes before the break
they were handed a golden opportunity to equalise when they were awarded a
penalty for a Laszlo Sepsi handball. Melo fired a fierce shot towards the
bottom left of the goal, but Felgueiras guessed the right way and parried the
ball away.
Selcuk Inan and Albert Riera both had long-range efforts for
the hosts in the opening minutes of the second half. Emmanuel Eboue shot from
distance on the hour and Sabri Sarioglu and Melo also sent in efforts, but none
seriously threatened the Cluj keeper.
However, all their dominance paid off in the 77th minute
when Yilmaz equalised, heading Amrabat's cross into the centre of the goal from
close range.
Cluj had not shown up as an attacking force at all in the
second half and Galatasaray continued to go forward looking for the winner.
Selcuk Inan fired a free-kick over the bar and in the final minute another Inan
set-piece found Yilmaz in the six-yard box, but he could only direct his shot
wide.
Juventus 1-1 FC
Nordsjaelland
Juventus were made to come from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw
- their third UEFA Champions League tie running - as FC Nordsjaelland's first
ever goal in the competition left them scrambling in Denmark.
Mikkel Beckmann's excellent free-kick gave the hosts a shock
lead five minutes into the second half, and Nordsjaelland held out for more
than half an hour before Mirko Vucinic lashed in an equaliser. Juventus pushed
for a second but instead had to settle for another point as their Group E
frustrations continued.
Juventus at least lived up to their favourites tag early on
as they dominated the match. Paolo De Ceglie fired wide from an angle on the
left before Arturo Vidal blazed over following some neat passing on the edge of
the area.
A poor clearance from Jesper Hansen handed Andrea Pirlo
another opening in the eighth minute, but he sent his shot wide. Sebastian
Giovinco looked to have a great chance after fine control to bring down Pirlo's
pass, but he was denied by a late tackle as he prepared to pull the trigger,
and moments later Alessandro Matri volleyed wide after a corner.
The hosts' first chance came in the 17th minute when Kasper
Lorentzen stung the palms of Gianluigi Buffon after bursting through the
defence. The Italy goalkeeper did better when Beckmann cut in from the right to
send a left-footed shot towards goal.
Leonardo Bonucci got a strong head to Pirlo's 22nd-minute
corner but sent it wide before Hansen was called on to keep out Giovinco's
effort when the forward turned De Ceglie's drilled cross goalwards.
De Ceglie's ball then released Giovinco who rounded Hansen,
only to miss the target from a tight angle. There was almost a repeat at the
other end, but Buffon gathered at the feet of Joshua John.
Vidal prodded wide after great work from Giovinco to find
him at the far post, and Juventus' frustrations grew as Runje made a brilliant
block to deny Alessandro Matri, following up after Hansen parried Giovinco's
powerful shot.
Juventus threatened early in the second half with Hansen
denying Matri and Giovinco, but it was Nordsjaelland who then took a surprise
lead in the 50th minute as Buffon's hand was not strong enough to keep out
Beckmann's free-kick on the eve of his 29th birthday.
Matri sought an immediate response, but Michael Parkhurst
blocked his shot, before Runje threw himself in the way of an effort from
Mauricio Isla. Juventus were piling on the pressure, with Runje performing more
heroics to block Marchisio's shot, and Hansen getting a hand to Giovinco's
flick.
John had a chance to double the hosts' lead, but headed over
from a good position. That was a rare break in Juventus pressure, which resumed
immediately as Parkhurst blocked another shot and Matri and Vidal fired wide.
Pirlo's curling free-kick in the 69th minute brought a fine
save from Hansen before an ambitious volley from Giorgio Chiellini went over.
Juventus finally got their reward nine minutes from time
when Isla crossed and Vucinic lashed in a volley from close range, leaving the
goalkeeper with no chance. The Italians were not satisfied with that and pushed
for a winner.
Bonucci turned a corner narrowly over the bar, while Nicklas
Bendtner could not keep his effort down from De Ceglie's excellent cross.
Bayern Munich 1-0
Lille
Bayern Munich won 1-0 away to Lille in the UEFA Champions
League today, but the scoreline barely reflected the one-sided nature of the
Group F tie.
Thomas Muller's penalty after 20 minutes was the difference
between the sides but Bayern made most of the running and should have won by a
decidedly more comfortable margin.
Franck Ribery was given a rough ride on his return to his
native northern France as first Djibril Sidibe and then Florent Balmont dragged
him to the ground, but both free kicks were wasted with Mickael Landreau
punching both clear.
Bayern broke the deadlock in the 20th minute when Lucas
Digne clattered Philipp Lahm to the ground and despite Lille protests, referee
Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot and Muller dispatched it straight past
Landreau.
Lille's best chance of the half came on the half-hour as
Digne crossed from the left but it sailed over the onrushing Nathan Roux and
Tulio De Melo and out to safety. Ribery's involvment came to an abrupt end at
half-time when he reappeared on the bench with his left thigh heavily bandaged
to be replaced by Xherdan Shaqiri.
Bayern contained Lille for long spells despite some deft
approach play from the French side but the statistics showed that goakepper
Manuel Neuer hardly had a save worthy of the name to make all night.
Lahm should have doubled the score for Bayern in the 69th
minute as he raced on to a neat through ball but Landreau got down well to
smother the ball before he could take aim.
Lille had a penalty appeal waved away in the 72nd minute
when Balmont went down in the area after apparently being held back by
Martinez. Muller squandered a golden opportunity with a quarter of an hour
left, pushing Lahm's cross wide as he slid into the area.
In a last throw of the dice, Lille coach Rudi Garcia sent on
Ryan Mendes, but the young attacker ran gamely but to little effect.
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1
Chelsea FC
Chelsea's hopes of a place in the UEFA Champions League last
16 were compromised on Tuesday when the holders fell to the first loss of their
trophy defence in a 2-1 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Despite a late effort by Oscar, goals from Alex Teixeira and
Fernandinho were enough to give the Ukrainian champions breathing space at the
top of Group E and extend an extraordinary unbeaten run stretching back 11
months.
It was Chelsea's first loss since they went down to Atletico
Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup, but things would have been far worse for the
English Premier League leaders had Juventus not been held to a 1-1 draw at FC
Nordsjaelland.
Chelsea remain in second place but are now three points
behind Shakhtar ahead of the return game on 7 November, while coach Roberto Di
Matteo must hope for a quick recovery prior to Sunday's visit of Manchester
United.
John Terry returned for Chelsea after missing their 4-2 win at
Tottenham Hotspur as he served the first instalment of a four-game ban for
racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand, but his first contribution was
unfortunate. The Blues captain unwittingly diverted a shot into the path of
Teixeira, who drilled the hosts into a third-minute lead.
Another Chelsea stalwart, Frank Lampard, was making his
100th European appearance, but he endured a similarly forgettable start to the
game, with injury forcing him off in the 16th minute. Eden Hazard replaced
Lampard and helped craft an opening for Fernando Torres, but Shakhtar
goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov came out to save at the Spaniard's feet.
The hosts refused to be flustered by Chelsea's forays into
their territory, however, and the dangerous Willian twice threatened to extend
their lead with attempts from long range. The Brazilian with the distinctive
afro hairstyle then teed up Henrik Mkhitaryan for a powerful shot that Petr
Cech parried, while the Czech goalkeeper also had to claw away a close-range
effort from Yaroslav Rakitskiy.
The half-time whistle came as a relief for Di Matteo's men,
but things got no better in the second half, as the home side doubled their
advantage inside seven minutes. Hazard was caught in possession in midfield by
Fernandinho, who hared upfield to collect a lay-off from Luiz Adriano before
crashing a precise low shot into Cech's bottom-right corner.
Pyatov then had to repel long-range shots from Hazard and
Ramires, but Mircea Lucescu's side refused to be pushed back. Cech twice had to
deal with smartly hit shots from Mkhitaryan, while Adriano saw a header bobble
narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
Oscar tucked home Branislav Ivanovic's low cross in the 88th
minute to claim a consolation goal for Chelsea, but Shakhtar were in no mood to
relinquish their record of having never lost at home to an English club.
Valencia 3-0 BATE
Borisov
BATE Borisov, who stunned Bayern Munich last time out in the
UEFA Champions League, were brought back to earth with a thud Tuesday as
Roberto Soldado's hat-trick earned Valencia a 3-0 win.
BATE went into the game as the surprise Group F
table-toppers after maximum points from their opening two games. But their
woeful record against Spanish opposition continued at Minsk's Dinamo stadium
with this comprehensive loss leaving them with nothing to show from seven
attempts.
Valencia, whose reward was to go top of the table on goal
difference, started the livelier, with Soldado's fifth-minute effort forcing a
good block from BATE goalkeeper Andrei Gorbunov.
The hosts were looking more dangerous as the game progressed
and on the half-hour mark Aleksandr Pavlov darted into the box only for his
shot to be deflected out of danger by Diego Alves's dive to the left. The
Valencia keeper then punched away the follow up from Dmitri Likhtarovich.
The Spanish visitors, who were enjoying the bulk of
possession, finally broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time when Marko
Simic felled Soldado. The aggrieved party then converted the penalty with
Gorbunov diving the wrong way.
The second half was only ten minutes old when Valencia
doubled their advantage, and it was Soldado again who did the damage. The
Valencia striker struck low into Gorbunov's net with a right-footed volley
after being set up by a cross from Andres Guardado.
Soldado went very close to grabbing another seconds later,
but with Gorbunov beaten, BATE midfielder Aleksandr Volodko stepped in to block
the shot on the line. The red-hot striker did get his third on 69 minutes after
a neat one-two with Tino Costa for his second Champions league hat-trick.
A fourth looked on the cards but his cheeky chip with
quarter-hour to go sailed wide.
Valencia's second win of the campaign pushed them up to the
top of Group F from BATE and Bayern with all three on six points.
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