CHELSEA SUBSTITUTE VICTOR Moses headed a last-minute winner to clinch a 3-2 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League’s Group E on Wednesday night.
The former Wigan striker rose high in the last minute of added time to head home Juan Mata’s corner after a thrilling encounter in which they twice took the lead but made poor defensive errors as they were pegged back by the swift attacking movement of the Ukrainian champions.
Shakhtar playmaker Willian – a transfer target for Chelsea and Tottenham – twice equalised for the visitors to cancel out Fernando Torres’ sixth minute goal and a wonderful 45-yard strike from Oscar.
But Moses had the last say with a goal that leaves Chelsea alongside Shakhtar on seven points in Group E, a step closer to the knockout stages with two games to play, at home to Nordsjaelland and away to Juventus.
In the group’s other clash, Juventus cruised to a 4-0 win over Danish side FC Nordsjaelland in Torino. Claudio Marchisio opened the scoring six minutes in before Arturo Vidal doubled the hosts’ advantage midway through the first half.
Sebastian Giovinco added a third before the break to make sure of the points, while Fabio Quagliarella put the finishing touches on a fine performance as the Italian side ended their record run of nine European draws with a thoroughly deserved victory.
The Serie A leaders now trail leaders Chelsea and Shakhtar by just one point with two matches remaining in the group stage.
Group F
Bayern Munich knocked Lille out of the Champions League with a crushing 6-1 victory that saw Claudio Pizarro strike a 15-minute hat-trick.
The Peruvian striker scored the fourth fastest treble in the competition’s history, adding to early free kicks from Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben to send the Bavarians in at half-time with a five-goal lead.
Ex-Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou pulled one back for reeling Lille with a fine individual goal after half-time, but Bayern substitute Toni Kroos steered in another in the 66th minute to end a miserable night for the Ligue 1 outfit.
The win puts Bayern second in Group F with nine points, behind only Valencia, who were 4-2 winners at home to BATE Borisov.
The Belarusian side are still in contention for a place in the last 16 on six points, while for Rudi Garcia’s Lille it’s the end of the road with the French club pointless from four games.
Bate Borisov coach Viktor Goncharenko watches on. Alberto Saiz/AP/Press Association Images
At the Mestalla, Valencia strolled to a three-goal lead, but a pair of sloppy errors gave BATE a window of opportunity before an eventual 4-2 result.
Jonas fired Valencia into the lead in the 26th minute, with Roberto Soldado adding a second from the penalty spot shortly after.
Sofiane Feghouli made it 3-0 five minutes into the second half, but Renan Bressen pulled one back for BATE within minutes.
Dmitri Mozolevski scored after an awful error from Valencia midfielder Fernando Gago to make matters tense with seven minutes to go, but Feghouli popped up with his second goal four minute from time to seal the victory.
BATE still have a chance of making the knockout phase with both themselves and Valencia to play Lille and Bayern in the remaining two match days.
Group G
While Celtic stunned the most revered team in world football (you can read how that unfolded here) Benfica kept their hopes of qualification from the Group G alive with a 2-0 victory over Spartak Moscow with Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo proving the difference.
Cardozo wasted no time in leaving his mark on the game after being introduced at the break, as he scored two goals in quick succession, the first a powerful header from close range, and the second a well-taken half volley from 10 yards out.
Cardozo had one final chance to make it three goals in 45 minutes late in the game, but after racing through on goal he poked an effort just wide of Rebrov’s right-hand post under pressure from Juan Insaurralde.
The result moves Benfica up to third place in the group, three points behind Celtic and five behind leaders Barcelona.
Group H
Manchester United became the first British side through to this season’s Champions League knockout stage after coming from behind to beat Group H rivals Braga 3-1, thus sealing top spot.
After dominating the ifrst half, the Portuguese side took a deserved lead in the 49th minute. Alan converting a penalty kcik after Jonny Evans was caught on the back foot and conceded a penalty.
United looked lacklustre for much of the game, but they were awarded something of a bonus recall to the dressing room when the floodlights failed at the unique municipal stadium in Braga. Soon after they re-emerged, substitute Robin van Persie drew the English runners-up level just minutes before Wayne Rooney was belatedly awarded a penalty which he converted.
Javier Hernandez completed the scoring for Alex Ferguson’s side with a comically scrappy goal in stoppage time to seal United’s progress to the knockout stage.
In the group’s other fixture a Burak Yılmaz hat-trick gave Galatasaray a 3-1 win away to Cluj. The defeat pushes Romanian side to third in Group H, one point ahead of Braga and level with Galatasaray on four points.
