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matchday six

Champions League wrap: Young guns thwarted in Greece, PSG march on

It was another frustrating night for Arsene Wenger despite qualifying for the knock-out stage.

ARSENAL’S DISPIRITING SEASON took a turn for the worse on Tuesday as the Gunners crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Olympiakos that ended their hopes of finishing top of Champions League Group B.

Arsene Wenger’s side needed a victory in Athens to ease the sense of crisis enveloping the north London club after their worst start to a Premier League campaign in the Frenchman’s 16-year reign.

But instead the Gunners squandered the lead secured by Tomas Rosicky as second half goals from Giannis Maniatis and then Kostas Mitroglou meant Arsenal had to settle for second place in the group behind Schalke.

The Gunners took the lead in the 38th minute. Gervinho was the provider, jinking past several defenders before cutting a pass back to Czech midfielder Rosicky, who drove a first-time shot past former Manchester United keeper Roy Carroll for his first goal since March.

Wenger was forced to send on Andrey Arshavin for the injured Rosicky at half-time and Russian was into the action early on as he headed over from Chamakh’s cross.

Arshavin went close on the hour with a powerful strike that Carroll pushed away at his near post, but Arsenal’s defensive frailties returned to haunt them as Olympiakos snatched an equaliser in the 65th minute.

There was a hint of controversy about the goal as Arsenal claimed Szczesny didn’t get a touch on a Paulo Machado header which resulted in the corner that produced the goal.

Arsenal failed to clear the set-piece and Djamel Abdoun hooked a cross back into the area, where Ramsey carelessly chested the ball towards Maniatis and the midfielder bundled his close-range shot past Szczesny.

It got even worse for the Gunners eight minutes later when the Wenger’s defence backed off too far, allowing substitute Mitroglou to curl a superb strike past Szczesny from the edge of the area.

Wenger was reduced to frustrated scowls on the touchline as Arsenal failed to mount any response and Olympiakos easily held out to inflict more misery on the Gunners.

Schalke 04  claimed top spot in Group B by virtue of their 1-1 draw in Montpellier.

Second-half goals from the visitors’ Benedikt Howedes and Montpellier’s Emanuel Herrera ensured the sides would not be separated in southern France, as the hosts ended their first foray into elite European football bottom of the group with just two points.

In group A Paris Saint-Germain saw off the challenge of Porto as they recorded a 2-1 victory which saw them top the pool.

The Ligue 1 side raced out of the blocks in the early exchanges before taking the lead thanks to Thiago Silva’s powerful header.

Porto would soon equalise after a defensive lapse allowed Jackson Martinez to restore parity at the Parc des Princes.

The visitors would be undone by an error from goalkeeper Helton, who embarrassingly let Ezequiel Lavezzi’s weak effort squirm past him just after the hour mark.

Vitor Pereira’s men issued a response, but a glaring chance would subsequently be spurned. Martinez was found in an open space before his chip was denied by an on-rushing Salvatore Sirigu, and former Marseille midfielder Lucho Gonzalez fired the rebound over.

Ancelotti’s men held on despite wasting several chances late on through Javier Pastore and Ibrahimovic, with Porto settling for second.

In the other Group A game, Dinamo Zagreb earned a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Dynamo Kyiv after their clash at the Stadion Maksimir was delayed due to snow.

Ivan Krstanovic’s last-minute penalty cancelled out Andriy Yarmolenko’s opener to earn the Croatians their first point.

Antonio Calanni/AP/Press Association Images

Malaga captain Duda struck either side of half-time as Anderlecht were denied a spot in the Europa League after a 2-2 draw.

Duda twice put the La Liga side ahead at Estadio La Rosaleda as Anderlecht finished bottom of Group C, behind Malaga, AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg.

Malaga enjoyed the better of the early chances and almost went ahead in the 10th minute, only for Silvio Proto to tip Diego Buonanotte’s effort around his post.

The hosts continued to squander opportunities and Anderlecht came close to opening the scoring against the run of play. But on the stroke of half time, Seba did well to hold the ball in the Anderlecht area before picking out Duda, who fired an unstoppable drive past Proto.

Anderlecht were not behind for long. Five minutes into the second half, Oguchi Onyewu played a pass into Jovanovic and the Serbian delicately chipped the advancing Kameni.

Jovanovic came close to firing the Belgian side in front moments later, but Kameni got his fingertips to his effort and forced it onto the post before the hosts could clear.

Back came the hosts. Buonanotte picked out Duda with a perfect cross-field pass and the midfielder brought the ball down well before lashing past Proto and into the bottom corner.

Mbokani netted a last-gasp equaliser to set up a tense finish, but Malaga held on to secure a point.

In Italy, a goal from Danny was enough to lead Zenit St Petersburg to a famous 1-0 victory over AC Milan and book the Russian champions’ place in the Europa League.

‘Group of death’

In group d, Manchester City needed a win from their trip to group leaders Borussia Dortmund to stand a chance of competing in the Europa League in the new year. They failed to get it and crashed out of European Competition. You can read how that game unfolded here.

In Madrid, Real made light work of Ajax with an emphatic 4-1 win,  but still had to settle for second place in the ‘group of death’.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and a Jose Callejon double in the Santiago Bernabeu sealed the Spanish champions’ victory.

Derk Boerrigter got the consolation for the Dutch who gave a good account of themselves and their reward is a place in the Europa League after finishing third ahead of Manchester City, who came a miserable last.

Afterwards Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was full of praise for the performance of ex-Tottenham player Luka Modric, who gave two wonderful assists for his side’s first goals of the evening.

“Modric has already performed well for us in a number of games, he is a great player who can play at the highest level, nobody can deny he is going to be an important signing for the future of this club,” he said.

- © AFP, 2012

As it happened: Borussia Dortmund v Manchester City, Champions League

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