Late strikes from Klass-Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay brought an end to Arsenal’s incredible home Champions League record.
With 15 minutes remaining and the scores level, the predatory Huntelaar blasted past Vito Mannone before a swift counter attack saw Jefferson Farfan cross perfectly for the impressive Affelay to seal an incredible win for the German side.
The two Dutch Schalke scorers celebrting the all important first goal
The three points was the perfect end to a brilliant week for Schalke, whom won away to Borussia Dortmund domestically on Saturday, and they now find themselves in pole position to top the group.
In truth Arsenal were poor throughout, and for a second successive match they struggled to break down their opponents, with the usual classy Santi Cazorla quiet.
In a game of very few chances Arsenal’s only shot on target was registered in injury time, meaning Arsenal will have to improve in a fortnight’s time in the Gelsenkerchen otherwise they face the realistic prospect of an early exit.
Jordi Alba scored the latest of late winners to deny Celtic the most unlikeliest and deserved of points, away to the Champions league favourites Barcelona.
The Scottish champions gave their illustrious opponents a run for their money, and more then matched the 2011 winners for the most part, and only goals in the last minute of either halves prevented an amazing result.
Javier Mascherano deflected a Georgios Samaras header into his own net to silence the Nou Camp and give the Hoops a shock lead. Neil Lennon's side almost went in at half-time ahead, however Andres Iniesta weaved his magic and finished off a typical Barca team goal in calm fashion. Despite being camped in the opponents half, Lionel Messi and co struggled to break Celtic down, however Alba scored in the last of four added minutes to steal the win in the cruelest of fashions.
Alba's late strike means Barcelona only need a point to progress
Defensively through out Celtic were brilliant, with Kevin Wilson and Efe Ambrose in particular superb. Lennon's side put in a ridiculous amount of last ditched tackles in and around the penalty area, as they so nearly left the Nou Camp with a priceless point.
Four points from six meant anything from their trip to the Nou Camp would've been a bonus, and Celtic were fortunate to avoid going behind within two minutes as Iniesta found Alexis Sanchez with a precise throw ball and the Chile international chipped over Forster, but narrowly wide.
Unsurprisingly Barcelona were dominating possession, however against the run of play Celtic took the lead. Charlie Mulgrew's delivery was perfect and Samaras's header was deflected into his own goal by Mascherano.
Celtic caused Barca problems from set pieces
Celtic's approach didn't change, and they defended courageously to keep the Catlan giants a bay for the majority of the first half; however they couldn't see it through as Iniesta finished off a sublime team goal. Iniesta, Messi and Xavi all combined with the latter setting Iniesta up who beat Forster with a calm finish.
The first chance of the second half was Celtic's as another set piece caused Barca problems, but a combination of Vincent Wanayama and Ambrose failed to make a meaningful connection with the free kick.
Barcelona were starting to create clear cut chances, and only the heroics of Foster prevented a third goal. The former Newcastle man denied Sanchez and Messi in quick succession, with the save from the little Argentine's header in particular world-class.
David Villa was a late substitute, and in the first minute of added time he appeared to have won the game for Barca, but his curling effort beat Forster, but not the post. In the end Villa's miss was irrelevant as Alba broke Celtic hearts.
Two Robin Van Persie goals ensured Manchester United avoided a shock Champions League defeat away to CFR Cluj.
For the fourth time this season United went a goal behind inside 20 minutes, as the Romanians lead through Pantelis Kapetanos; however a fortunate Van Persie goal levelled the scores before half-time. If the equaliser was lucky, then the eventual winner was world-class as Wayne Rooney found Van Persie brilliantly who flicked it first time past Mario Felgueiras in the Clug goal.
Rooney assisted both Van Persie strikes
Despite dominating the game, United gifted Cluj too many chances on the counter attack and only a late David De Gea save prevented the draw.
The win ensures Manchester United now have six points from six and realistically only need four points from their last four games to progress from the group stage.
A swift counter attack saw the Modou Sougou get the better of the United captain Patrice Evra, and the Senegalese squared it brilliantly for Kapetanos who beat De Gea into the far left corner.
United dominated possession, but it took them 20 minutes to create a real chance as Anderson and Van Persie both failed to convert when well placed.
Their pressure eventually told, all be it in fortunate circumstances, as Van Persie shouldered in a Rooney free-kick, with the ball looping over Felgueiras into the goal.
The sides went in at half-time level, but it only took United four minutes to take the lead as Van Persie doubled his account for the game.
Rooney, playing in the hole, found space and lofted a beautiful ball into the area and Van Persie got there before Laszlo Sepsi and placed into the corner.
The games all important fourth goal never came; however Cluj had a late chance to snatch a leveller only for De Gea to produce a brilliant save from Rafael Bastos's header.
A Champions League debut double from Oscar was only enough for a share of the spoils, as a late Fabio Quagliarella goal rescued a point for Juventus.
Quagliarella with his first Champions League goal
Two goals in as many minutes from Oscar, the second a spectacular long range effort, appeared to set the holders on their way to a comfortable home win; however Arturo Vidal scored just before half-time to half the deficit, and after dominating the second half, the Old Lady got their just-rewards as substitute Quagliarella beat the offside trap to silence Stamford Bridge.
A draw was the least Juventus deserved having dominated both the possession and chance count, as Chelsea let a two goal lead slip for the first in the Champions League since 2004.
The early chances fell the way of the Italians, as both Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic spurned one on one attempts with Petr Cech.
Out of the blue Chelsea took a strangle-hold on the game with two Oscar strikes!
The first was fortunate as his effort would've been a routine save for Gianluigi Buffon, only for Juve defender Leonardo Bonnuci to divert the effort over the dive of the Italian number one!
The second however needed no deflection, as the Brazilian let fly from 25 yards spectacularly into the top corner, giving Buffon no chance in the Juventus goal.
Oscar celebrating his wonder strike
Going in with a two goal lead would have probably secured the game for Chelsea; however out of nothing Vidal scored from the edge of the penalty area, with a precise effort arrowed into the corner.
Second half substitute Juan Mata had a good chance to seal the victory for Chelsea; however he couldn't beat Buffon at his near post.
And the holders were left to rue his miss as Quagliarella beat John Terry's poor attempt at playing him offside, and beat Cech through his legs to complete the comeback.
In the end Chelsea were fortunate to escape with a share of the spoils as Quagliarella clipped the bar with a curling effort.
Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League in extraordinary fashion, going down 2-1 away to Basle last night.
Goals from Marco Streller and Alexander Frei meant Phil Jones’s late consolation effort was worthless, as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side was left to deal with the prospect of Europa League football, in the New Year.
United fielded a strong starting XI in the knowledge defeat would eliminate them from the competition and they started confidently; however Basel opened the scoring just nine minutes in.
An initial cross wasn’t dealt with, as Nemanja Vidic and Chris Smalling collided, leaving the latter on the floor with an apparent head injury, and Xherdan Shaqiri’s follow up cross was poorly dealt with by David De Gea in the United goal leaving Streller with the simple task to give Basle the lead.
The goal shocked United into action; however despite dominating the possession count, they failed to create any real chance of note in the first 25 minutes.
And when the chance came Manchester United’s way, the usually assured Wayne Rooney missed a guilt edged opportunity to level. Nani, who was United’s best and most consistent attacking threat through out, did brilliantly to find Rooney with a curling cross, only for the England centre forward to fail to make the appropriate connection with the goal gaping.
Rooney and Nani both missed presentable chances with Yann Sommer in the Basle goal denying the duo well.
A horrible looking fall resulted in Vidic being stretchered off just moments before half-time. He and the goal scorer Streller challenged for the ball and the United captain twisted his right knee in the collision and was in evident pain.
In the second half it was Basle who went the closest to scoring the games second goal as Frei saw his free-kick expertly saved by De Gea.
Manchester United nearly levelled in comical fashion, as again Nani did brilliantly on the right and his cross was volleyed against his own bar by Markus Steinhofer, with Ashley Young unable to finish score with the rebound.
With time running out on United’s Champions League campaign it was all but killed off with just six minutes remaining as Frei scored a second. Again a Shaqiri a cross was the source of the goal, as the youngster’s teasing delivery wasn’t dealt with by Smalling and Frei, lurking behind the defender, headed past De Gea.
A late header from Jones wasn’t enough, as the Red’s lost for the first and vital time in the group stage as the Swiss club celebrated an unlikely progression.
Sir Alex Ferguson will look back to the 3-3 home draw with Basel as the main reason why United didn’t qualify, after losing a 2-0 lead, however ultimately Manchester United didn’t deserve to progress from a group on paper they should have.
Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Benfica, giving the Portuguese side the chance to top the group with victory in two week’s time.
An own goal from Phil Jones inside three minutes gave Benfica an early lead, however Dimitar Berbatov levelled on the half hour point with a guided header past the impressive Artur Moraes. The Red’s wasted a succession of chances before Darren Fletcher gave them a deserved lead, but they couldn’t contain their Portuguese counterparts and just two minutes after Fletcher had scored, the classy Aimar tapped home from close range.
Sir Alex Ferguson made five changes from the narrow victory away to Swansea on the weekend, with Berbatov making a rare appearance in a frustrating season for the Bulgarian. The most notable absentee was Wayne Rooney, who missed out completely due to injury.
Back to back victories over Otelul Galati had given United the chance to resurrect a disappointing Champions League campaign; however the draw means they have to avoid defeat next week in Basel to ensure progression into the knock out rounds.
Benfica opened the scoring after just three minutes in unfortunate fashion, as Jones guided the ball into his own goal. Nicolas Gaitain, a reported target for Manchester United, did well down the Benfica right, and his cross was converted in by the unlucky Jones.
Manchester United didn’t react to going behind well, and the Old Trafford faithful were left frustrated as the Red Devils struggled to maintain possession of the ball against a technically good Benfica side.
A Nani solo run gave brought some life into United. The Portuguese winger beat four Benfica players before being crudely taken down by Ezequiel Garay. Though the resulting free-kick came to nothing, it was the first sign United were back in the game.
A spell of United possession took its toll on Benfica as the Red Devils levelled through Berbatov. Young took a free kick quickly, guiding the ball out wide to Nani, whose cross was brilliant, and Berbatov guided the header home.
Literally a minute later Young should’ve turned the game on its head; however the former Villa winger couldn’t find a finish when one-on-one with Moraes. As the game became more stretched, Aimar nearly gave Benfica their second lead, but he failed to beat David De Gea from a tight angle.
Half time came and went and United came out of the traps the quicker in the second half and missed a couple of chances in quick succession. Firstly Berbatov did well to find Young whose shot was saved well before Nani from a free kick failed to test the Benfica keeper.
Fabio Da Silva really should’ve given Manchester United the lead, but well when placed he decided against sliding it past the keeper, instead opting for the lofted route, which Moraes dealt with easily.
At this point United were flying, and Fletcher gave the Reds a deserved lead. A Patrice Evra cross was perfect for the Scotsman, the keeper saved Fletcher’s initial effort, however he couldn’t missed the follow up from a yard out.
Having turned the game around, most people inside Old Trafford expected the home side to go on and seal the game with a third; but it was the away side who scored the decisive fourth goal of the match moments after United had gone in front.
A poor clearance from De Gea feel perfectly for Bruno Cesar whose cross wasn’t dealt with by Rio Ferdinand and Aimar, just like Fletcher, couldn’t miss with the goal gaping.
Berbatov blew an incredible chance to edge United ahead for a second time. Fabio did brilliantly to find the former Spurs man, and with just Moraes in the way, Berbatov smashed his volley over the bar.
With United in desperate need of a goal, as Benfica not only levelled the game, but edged ahead in the head-to-head matches between the two, brought on Javier Hernandez; however it was Benfica’s Rodrigo who went the closest to getting a late winner. The former Bolton man beat two players before putting his arrowed shot narrowly wide of De Gea’s near post.
Three minutes of extra time were signalled, but the customary United late onslaught never arrived and Benfica left Old Trafford not only with a deserved point, but the group momentum, as the draw ensured they will qualify from Group C; with first place also in the Portuguese sides hands.
Seven points from nine games. Bottom of their Champions League group. And now the loss of their talismanic striker Giuseppe Rossi for six months. Its fair to say its been a luckless and poor start to the season for the 'Yellow Submarine'.
The news is a huge blow for Villarreal considering the fact their other striker Nilmar is also a long term absentee after recent knee surgery.
Consecutive 3-0 defeats against the surprise leaders Levante and Real Madrid has confirmed Villarreal's place in the drop zone, coupled with three defeats from three in a poor Champions League campaign, means the injury to Rossi is not only cruel but poorly timed.
Villarreal qualified for the Champions League last season, for the first time since Manuel Pellegrini's exit. His departure was massive for the club, as they consistently had been performing above expectations with limited resources avaliable to him.
With some winable games coming up the pressure is on Juan Carlos Garrido to lift the Spanish club from their current slump.
Manchester United won for the first time in three attempts in the Champions League as two Wayne Rooney penalties helped them overcome Otelul Galati 2-0.
After a drab first half where United were thwarted well by a strong defensively Galati, it took a handball from the Romanian sides captain Sergiu Costin handled a Rooney cross to gift the English Champions the chance to take the lead, which Rooney took with a well taken spot kick.
Nemanja Vidic was wrongly sent off for a lunge on Bratislav Punoševac, only for Milan Perendija to make it ten on ten after he saw yellow for a second time. In injury time Rooney won United's second penalty which the in-form forward buried for a 2-0 win.
After a shock 3-3 draw last time out at home to Basel, victory over the group minnows was a necessity and despite not being at their best they had enough to edge home.
The games fist chance fell the way of United's Brazilian midfielder Anderson, however his effort from just outside the area was poor and never threatened the Otelul goal.
The early stages were played in the Galati half, however despite Manchester United's possession dominance they never looked like opening the scoring and in fact it was Galati's Iaon Filip who went the closest as his curling effort went marginally over Andreas Lindegaard's crossbar.
After great work from Nani down the Otelul left, Michael Carrick spurned the best chance of the game. The Portuguese winger did well and his cut back was perfect for the midfielder who blazed over when well placed.
Half time arrived and the Romanian side would've been ecstatic in holding the English Champions to a stalemate at the half way point.
United were slow coming out of the blocks for the second half and again rarely threatened to get in behind a resolute Galati defence.
Rooney narrowly missed the target as United spurned a great chance to open the scoring. Carrick did brilliantly to find Nani whose cross found Rooney who swiveled well but scuffed wide.
Seconds later Rooney found space down the right hand side and his cross was handled by the captain and the referee, correctly so, pointed to the spot. Rooney stepped up to take the spot-kick and put the keeper the wrong way, scoring with ease.
After sixty minutes of poor football, the game burst into life, as moments after Rooneys' goal Manchester United's returning captain Vidic was harshly sent off for a late tackle on Punoševac.
The red card gave Galati more of an opportunity to get back into the game, however they struggled to break down a United side which made two defensive changes due to the red card with Phil Jones and Jonny Evans coming on for Fabio and Antonio Valencia who had a poor game.
With time running out, Galati joined United in finishing the game with ten men as Perendija was sent off for a second yellow card.
After a poor defensive pass, the ball made its way to Nani whose long range effort hit a post with the keeper well beaten in the Galati goal.
Moments later United won their second penalty of the game as Rooney was brought down by Liviu Antal. Again Rooney stepped up to take the penalty and his spot kick was superbly placed past the reach of Branko Grahovac.
The win moves Manchester United up to second in the after Benfica's impressive 2-0 win in Basel. With their city rivals next on Sunday, United will have to improve if they are to leag frog Roberto Mancini's side to top the Premier League table.
Second half goals from David Luiz and Juan Mata were enough for Chelsea to overcome a decent Bayern Leverkusen side in their Champions League opener.
For large spells of the game Chelsea were average and Leverkusen can feel slightly unfortunate not to leave Stamford Bridge with a point. Until Luiz opened the scoring the game was cagey and a drab affair, and with Manchester United up next in the league for beaten 2008 Champions League finalists, Andre Villas-Boas's side will have to improve.
Both sides had early questionable goals disallowed, with Leverkusen the team with more reason to feel aggrieved as Omer Toprak's header was cancelled out for an apparent push on Chelsea's Florent Malouda. Whilst a combination of Fernando Torres's backheeled flick towards goals and Raul Merelies's attempt at guiding the ball home was disallowed as the latter's contribution was deemed to have interfered with play.
The only real other chances of note in a quiet first half saw Torres and Daniel Sturridge both thwarted by Leno in the Leverkusen goal.
After the break Leverkusen attacked with more threat and on his return to Stamford Bridge Michael Ballack nearly gave the 2002 finalists a surprise lead, however his one on one chance was saved well by Petr Cech, who otherwise had little to do.
With his side struggling to break down Leverkusen, Villas-Boas brought on Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard, and despite neither have a part in the opener, the goal arrived shortly after the duo's entry.
Luiz started and ended the move of the match to give his side the lead. After a surge into the German's half, Luiz found Ashley Cole who fed the ball into Torres whose first time lay-off was superbly curled in from the Brazilian centre half giving Leno no chance.
Moments later Mata nearly doubled the hosts lead, however he didn't have to wait long to register his second Chelsea goal. Torres did well to escape the challenge of Luiz Castro, and when he bore down on Reno in the Leverkusen goal, the Torres unselfishly squared for his Spanish compatriot who had the simplest of tasks to finish off with the goal gaping.
Elsewhere in Group E, the Belgain side Genk held Valencia to a goalless draw, meaning Chelsea topped the table after the opening round of games.
Luiz's curling effort opened the scoring for Chelsea.
Second half goals from captain Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott saw Arsenal come from behind on the night to secure their place in the Champions League group stages.
Despite all the pressure surrounding Arsene Wenger and his side, Arsenal's second half performance was a reminder not to write off his young side. With injuries and sales to key players, many predicted Arsenal would fail to overcome Udinese despite their one goal lead, and after Di Natale had given Udinese a deserved lead many expected Arsenal to wilt under the extreme pressure and heat in Italy, however their second half performance not only defied their form but the question marks over their heads with Aaron Ramsey in particular dominating the midfield, proving yet again what a fantastic young player he is.
Udinese's captain Antonio Di Natale had levelled the tie on aggergate heading home superbly from a Pinzi cross, however Arsenal turned it around with a much improved second half performance with Van Persie finishing comfortably after Gervinho had done superbly, as well as Walcott getting in behind Udinese to beat the impressive Samir Handonvic.Arsenal's two goals were sandwiched by a Di Natale penalty miss, as Wojciech Szczesny pulled off a quite spectacular save, and with the game level at this point, if the Italian had scored then Arsenal's progression wouldn't have been as comfortable.
Both sides came into the game with similar problems, with Udinese like Arsenal losing key players in Cristian Zapata, Gokan Inhler and most notably Alexis Sanchez to Barcelona, and after a close first leg, in which Udinese were unlucky not to pinch an away goal, the closeness of the first half was to be expected, with both sides taking the game to each other in a very lively start.
The first real chance of note fell to Udinese as Di Natale got ahead of the Arsenal centre half Johan Djourou to turn Maurico Isla's cross against the near post. However it was Arsenal, who should've taken the lead, through their first leg scorer Walcott.
Gervinho did superbly well to engineer an oppourtunity, and superbly laid the ball of for Walcott who faced with just Handonovic and the goal smashed his shot into the chest of the Slovianen keeper, who then expertely repelled Van Persie's rebound.
With Udinese growing in confidence, the Italian side opened the scoring just before half time, with their captain Di Natale heading superbly over Szczesny in the Arsenal goal.
Wenger replaced the ineffectual Emmanuel Frimpong with Tomas Rosicky in an attacking and bold move that paid dividend for the under pressure manager, as his side levelled early in the second half. The impressive Gervinho again caused havoc down the Udinese left, and squared well for Van Persie who samshed home superbly.
Minutes later, with Udinese needing two goals to progress, they were literally handed the chance to half their needed goals, as Thomas Vermaelan handed from a uncleared corner resulting in a penalty for the home side. Di Natale's penalty however was expertely saved from Szczesny who diving to his right pulled off an incredible one handed save.
With the frustration evident Udinese's temper got the better of them and were lucky not to be reduced to ten men as was fortunate not to be sent off as his elbow on Walcott went unoticed. However Walcott had the final say as he and Sagna linked up brilliantly down the left hand side, who when one on one with Handanovic finished superbly.
The final whistle came as a huge relief to Wenger as his Arsenal side confirmed their status in the group stage of the Champions League.
