Arsenal's recovered from an early season crisis to be England's best team in Champions League. (Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Arsenal won passage to the round of 16 and their UEFA Champions League group thanks to two goals from Robin van Persie in a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund. The news wasn’t so good for their London neighbors, with Chelsea handed another defeat - a 2-1 result that sent Bayer Leverkusen through to the knockout stage as Match Day Five of the Champions league came to a close.
Elsewhere, APOEL made history when the minnows became the first Cypriot side to qualify for the round of 16 with a grim draw with Zenit in St. Petersburg; Barcelona sewed up Group H with a 3-2 win over already-qualified AC Milan; and Porto and Olympiakos kept their hopes alive with wins as 28 goals flew in across Europe tonight.
Arsenal best of English lot
Let’s begin in Group F where Arsenal stand as the only English team to have qualified so far. Would you have thought this possible one month ago? No, you would not – and judging from the recent comments Arsene Wenger made to L’Equipe about possibly leaving the club, neither did their manager.
Tonight, it was the presence of Theo Walcott out wide and the grit of Alex Song down the gut that gave the Gunners the steel to break down a very solid Dortmund. After losing Mario Goetze and Sven Bender to injury in the first half, Dortmund simply didn’t have either the legs or the creativity to rebut an impressive Arsenal attack. Gunners' goalkeeper Wojciech Szczcesny was rarely troubled.
Van Persie’s first goal was a lovely header set up by a dazzling fake by Song at the near sideline that `keeper Thomas Weidenfeller could only touch, not parry. His second, and ultimately vital, goal was a near post sweeper from a nod-on by defender Thomas Vermaelen. Dortmund’s consolation, a gift for Shinji Kagawa that left Szczesny fuming at his backs, proved meaningless.
Arsenal may not be in sight of the Premiership race, but their rivals must be green with envy. Sparked by the Dutch striker, Arsenal have literally returned from the dead. While the Gunners still can make some baffling defensive gaffes — witness the late goal they conceded tonight — they look like a team that can win games with aplomb. The Manchester giants, to say nothing of Chelsea, would kill for such European form.
In the group’s other game, Olympiakos kept their chances to advance alive with a 1-0 win thanks to sub Giannis Fetfatzidis in a game that the Greeks dominated. Had it not been for `keeper Steve Mandanda - who made an acrobatic, one-handed stop on Jose Holebas to stem the damage - Marseille would have lost this one far earlier.
Manager Didier Deschamps now has a tough task. A win in at Dortmund in round six ensures their passage, as they still have a one-point lead on Olympiakos. Judging by the lack of quality key players like Mathieu Valbuena and Loic Remy displayed tonight, that’s a tall order. The Greeks host already-qualified Arsenal with all to play for.
Let the pressure build on AVB
On to Germany, where Bayer Leverkusen stunned Chelsea behind Manuel Freidrich’s late header in stoppage time to snatch a 2-1 win. Chelsea have now lost four of their last five matches. The vise around Andre Villas-Boas’ neck grows ever tighter.
From the opening whistle, Chelsea looked a nervous bunch, tactically unsure and fielding a lineup that had even partisans scratching their heads. There was no room for Fernando Torres, no start for Alex and plenty of bad play at the back. That defense is proving to be an insurmountable handicap. With Ashley Cole a late scratch after suffering an injury in training, Jose Bosingwa and David Luiz made an uneasy pairing while they tried to keep John Terry from getting caught out. In the end, it would be an uncharacteristic error from Petr Cech that allowed Sidney Sam and sub Eren Derdiyok to combine to level and an unmarked Freidrich to score the winner late.
It didn’t have to be this way: Daniel Sturridge and Didier Drogba were effective up top and Bayer Leverkusen were hardly pressing the point. Drogba’s opener, a superb effort fired from while near prone on the turf, should have been the spark. Yet the team’s inability to hold shape has proved too damaging to overcome. Chelsea must now win or play a scoreless draw against Valencia on the final day. As for the latter possibility, Blues fans should look away: Valencia hit seven goals past Genk tonight, one shy of equaling a record.
Anyone who tuned in for Valencia-Genk would be forgiven for thinking that the local station had somehow gotten it all wrong and was showing a replay, the Spaniards doing their best Real Madrid impression as they crushed the Belgian side behind a Roberto Soldado first half hat trick and further goals from Jonas, Pablo Hernandez, Tino Costa and Aritz Aduriz.
Valencia was ahead 2-0 in 14 minutes, Jonas slotting home a near post header before Soldado started his personal show. Only one of the goals could even remotely be blamed on Laszlo Koteles, the Genk goalkeeper, but he certainly won't save the video.
Of course the real question - which should be for Michel Platini, of course - is what the likes of Genk are doing in this tournament. Valencia exposed Genk completely, Soldado making the goals look far too easy.
APOEL minnows no more
In Group G, in St. Petersburg it was a historic night for APOEL Nicosia and a hugely frustrating one for Zenit. Blunting everything Zenit could throw at them, APOEL became the first Cypriot side ever to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage. Hardly making any attacking moves, the visitors remained tight at the back, put the clamps on the ever-dangerous Danny, and had just the necessary good fortune to keep their clean sheet.
For Zenit their problems may just have begun. Because German referee Felix Brych twice had to stop the match, actually taking the players off the field in the second half when smoke from flares again spread across the field, UEFA will surely be taking a look at crowd control in St. Petersburg. To make matters worse, Zenit had been fined by the Russian League last weekend for similar antics and cannot plead ignorance of the problem.
The match itself was ultimately disappointing. This was not the Zenit team we had seen before. Even Danny was largely ineffective against the all-defense visitors. There was a lack of crispness up front, wasted chances, then increasingly-frustrated raids in the closing minutes.
APOEL celebrated at the final whistle, secure in the knowledge that they have truly done something special in a Group G where they were predicted to finish at the bottom of the heap.
In the other match, FC Porto got just what it needed from its goalkeeper Helton and its attack's star Hulk, surviving a close call in Ukraine where Shakhtar dominated for long periods but wound up watching the Portuguese walk away with a 2-0 triumph.
Helton pulled off a series of important saves, and Shakhtar twice hit the woodwork before Hulk latched onto a pass from Joao Moutinho to open the scoring in the 82nd minute. Last year's Champions League darlings were suddenly out of not only this competition but Europa League as well.
It was a case of perfect timing as Moutinho looked up and spotted Hulk slipping between two defenders. The Brazilian striker gathered, held off a defender and scored with his right foot to turn the match upside down, sending Porto into the group finale against Zenit knowing that any kind of win will see them into the knockout stage.
Shakhtar had done everything but score in front of their home fans, and it was harsh when they wound up conceding a Razvan Rat own goal in the final minute. That made the scoreline particularly deceiving. Both Luiz Adriano and Fernandinho will believe they should have scored well before Hulk decided the issue.
Fireworks in Milan
In Group H, at Milan, defending champion Barcelona ran their current unbeaten string to 27 matches in a battle of heavyweights. It was a match that sometimes teetered on the edge, but always seemed to return to equilibrium.
With both already qualified the only matters at stake were who finished top of Group H and whether Barcelona could be brought down a peg by a club with the same type of pride. Milan did come from behind twice, but magic Lionel Messi decided things with a perfect pass that sent Xavi Hernandez through the Italian defense to score in the 63rd minute.
A Mark van Bommel own goal got Barcelona started in the 14th minute before Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored six minutes later. Messi put the champs back on top in the 31st minute from the penalty spot, although he was forced to retake his kick after breaking off his run-up on his first successful shot.
The goal of the night got Milan level eight minutes after the interval, Kevin Prince Boateng bringing a very difficult ball under control before rounding Eric Abidal and letting fly a wicked, curling shot that beat Victor Valdes to the near post.
The loss means Milan will finish second in the section, but the way the Italians competed will not have left their supporters feeling blue.
Finally, tiny Plzen got their first win at the expense of BATE in foggy Minsk, thanks to a first half goal by Marek Baros. It was a frantic match and nearly devoid of skill. The result is likely to see Plzen into the Europa League unless you think BATE will beat Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Odds are against it: BATE have yet to win a Champions League group match despite this being their second time through the tournament.
