Reuters
Arsenal suffered their second successive defeat in the Champions League, as Olympiakos scored three past David Ospina, who had a horror outing between the posts. Luis Suarez spared Barcelona’s blushes with a late winner, as the Catalans came from a goal behind to win 2-1 in the absence of Lionel Messi.
Arsene Wenger was in need of a win when dark horses Olympiakos visited the Emirates but was in for a shock as the Greek side emerged victorious, after an absolute howler by David Ospina in the first-half, who started in place of the veteran Petr Cech. Felipe Pardo opened the scoring, when his deflected shot following a corner went through just past Ospina. Theo Walcott restored parity almost immediately, when his shot from the edge of the box crept past Olympiakos ‘keeper Gago. But it was Ospina’s 40th minute howler which swiveled the game back into the Greek champions’ favor, as the Columbian shotstopper clumsily let a curling delivery off a corner routine past his line, subsequently restoring his opponent’s lead.
Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott, the best players on the pitch for the Gunners, combined again to make matters level in the 65th minute. Walcott who scored the equaliser turned provider when he put in a delicate cross into the box and Sanchez ghosted in between the Olympiakos defence, with a powerful header into the bottom corner. But the Gunners conceded the third seconds later, when Pardo was clear on goal following a wonderful ball over the top, who slipped in an inviting pass to substitute Finnbogason and the striker made no mistake from close range. Arsene Wenger’s men piled on the pressure but the away side held on as the Greek side moved to second in the points table, while Arsenal are languishing at the bottom of the pack. And it won’t get any easier for them either, as they face the rampaging Bayern Munich in their next two Champions League matches, other than welcoming table toppers Manchester United to the Emirates in the Premier League.
Barcelona struggled to make a major impact on proceedings in the absence of Lionel Messi and left it late to win all three points against their German opponents. Bayer deservedly took the lead, when Kyriakos Papadopoulos poked in Hakan Calhanoglu’s teasing cross from a tight angle. Although Barcelona dominated the ball, they failed to create many meaningful chances and Bayer were set to take away all three points from the Camp Nou before Sergi Roberto equalised in the 80th minute, when he poked in a rebound from close range. The Catalans rode on the change in momentum and took the lead a couple of minutes later, when Luis Suarez sent in Munir’s pass into the roof of the net, past the stupefied Bernd Leno.
Reuters
Jose Mourinho’s return to the Estadio do Dragao went all wrong, as the Blues’ dismal start to the season continued following a 2-1 loss against Porto. Yacine Brahimi left Branislav Ivanovic for the dead at the edge of the box rather effortlessly and although Asmir Begovic parried away his stinging shot, it fell into the path of Andre Andre, who slammed the ball into an open net to give his side the lead. Willian equalised at the stroke of halftime with an exquisite free-kick, leaving Iker Casillas rooted to the spot. Maicon restored his side’s lead, when flicked in a header past Begovic at his near post and although Chelsea pushed for a second equaliser, Porto held on as Julen Lopetegui’s men leapfrogged Chelsea to the top spot in Group G.
Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick, his 10th goal in 3 games, as Bayern dismantled a hapless Dinamo Zagreb 5-0 at the Allianz Arena. BATE Borisov pulled off a shock victory over Serie A giants AS Roma, as the Belarusian minnows won 3-2 home to move to 3rd place in Group E.
Other Champions League results:
Group G –
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-2 Dynamo Kiev
Group H –
Lyon 0-1 Valencia
Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 KAA Gent
Tags: Arsenal Barcelona Luis Suarez
