On Wednesday, both Arsenal and Marseille put their disappointing league performances behind them to secure significant home wins in their UEFA Champions League group matches.
Arsenal narrowly defeated Greek team Olympiakos with a score of 2-1, while Marseille, who have only one league victory this season, achieved a commendable 3-0 triumph at home against German champions Borussia Dortmund.
In the standings, Marseille leads Group F with six points from their two encounters, placing Arsenal second with four points.
Meanwhile, defending champions Barcelona enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 victory away against BATE Borisov, positioning them at the top of Group H. Lionel Messi contributed two goals to the rout, bringing his total for the club to 194 goals, which ties him with Hungarian legend Ladislao Kubala for second on Barcelona’s all-time scoring list.
Only Cesar Rodriguez, with 235 goals, surpassed Messi, but it appears that the Argentine will soon surpass him.
AC Milan, who had previously secured a last-minute 2-2 draw against Barcelona in their opening group match, managed to defeat Czech newcomers Viktoria Plzen 2-0 at the San Siro, while Valencia battled to a 1-1 draw at home with Chelsea.
Though Chelsea seemed set to claim their second victory in Group E after taking a 1-0 lead with an excellent goal by Frank Lampard, Valencia earned a well-deserved equalizer just four minutes from the end.
Salomon Kalou was penalized for handball, allowing Roberto Soldado to score from the penalty spot.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas praised Lampard’s performance, despite his earlier frustration regarding the veteran midfielder’s future at the club.
“It was a good performance from Lampard and there is nothing more to say,” stated the Portuguese coach. “He is one of the best players in our squad and I was very happy with him. The team worked well collectively and individually, and so I was very happy.”
In a notable appearance, former Germany captain Michael Ballack came off the bench to secure Bayer Leverkusen‘s 2-0 victory over Belgian champions Genk, placing the Germans second in Group E behind Chelsea.
Having fallen to a 2-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge two weeks prior, Leverkusen rebounded, with midfielder Lars Bender scoring the opener in the first half.
Ballack, celebrating his 35th birthday on Monday, netted the second goal in added time, marking his first goal in over 18 months, as he had spent a significant portion of the previous season on the bench due to lingering effects from two injuries in 2010.
Arsenal started strong against Olympiakos, quickly taking a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from 18-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and recent Brazilian acquisition Andre Santos. However, poor defending allowed Olympiakos to respond through David Fuster.
Wojciech Szczesny and the woodwork then teamed up to prevent Olympiakos from equalizing.
“It was a really good experience,” said Oxlade-Chamberlain after becoming the youngest English player to score in UEFA Champions League history. “It’s a big step up, but I want to play at the top level, and I have plenty more time to play in the Champions League. It’s my first time in this competition, and I’m glad we’ve managed to earn three points.”
Marseille’s victory was largely credited to Ghanaian star Andre Ayew, who scored twice, alongside Loic Remy.
Barcelona secured their three points by halftime as they completely dominated their Belarusian hosts.
The hosts’ situation worsened with an own goal that made it 1-0, followed by goalkeeper Alyaksandr Gutor inadvertently dropping the ball onto Messi’s head, leading to their third goal.
Messi added another goal early in the second half, bringing his season tally to 14 goals in ten matches.
Milan struggled in the first half against their Czech opponents, but a second-half brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano provided them the necessary breathing room.
Earlier, Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg bounced back from their surprising opening loss to APOEL Nicosia by defeating 10-man Porto, thanks to a double from Roman Shirokov.
Despite this, APOEL remains at the top of the group after drawing 1-1 away against last season’s quarter-finalists Shakhtar Donetsk.
by Buford Balony
