Liverpool, Arsenal seal opening win
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Liverpool's Steven Gerrard holds off Debrecen's Norbert Meszaros (R) during their Champions League soccer match at Anfield in Liverpool, northern England, September 16, 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
Dirk Kuyt's goal helped Liverpool sealed a 1-0 victory home in their first Champions League Group E match on Wednesday while Da Silva Eduardo grabbed a late winner for Arsenal to pocket three points in a thrilling Group H opener.
As the first Hungarian team in the group stage of the Champions League for 14 years, Debrecen played amazingly at Anfield with Peter Czvitkovics forcing goalkeeper Jose Reina to make a fine one-hand save.
It was until the last 10 minutes before the break that the Reds found their pace and launched a series of attacks under the maneuver of captain Steven Gerrard and Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun.
Albert Riera's two shots were both saved by Poleksic and Gerrard fired wide again and again. But Dutch Kuyt hit it at the stoppage time of the first half when Poleksic could not hold Fernando Torres's low shot after Benayoun's pass.
Lyon also won by a single goal in Group E as they edged out Italian side Fiorentina with Miralem Pjanic's goal with 14 minutes remaining.
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Arsenal's Niklas Bendtner reacts after scoring against Standard Liege's during a Champions League soccer match at Sclessin stadium in Liege September 16, 2009.[Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
Arsenal suffered an early two goals down as their Belgian counterpart Standard Liege stunningly scored twice within five minutes.
Eliaquim Mangala shot home at the edge of the box only after two minutes and Milan Jovanovic scored from the penalty spot three minutes later after William Gallas's foul.
Struggling to regain composure, the Gunners were given chances to rebound in the second half as Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner slot home his first goal of the season just before the break.
The equalizer finally came in the 78th minute as defender Thomas Vermaelen scored for the premier league club in his home country. Three minutes later, Eduardo shot in at close range to complete the comeback.
Defending champions Barcelona and the hosts Inter Milan both failed to score in their heavyweight clash while Dynamo Kiev came from behind to beat Rubin Kazan from Russia 3-1 in Group F.
In Group G, Sevilla saw off Romania's Unirea Urziceni 2-1 and Stuttgart were forced a 1-1 draw by visitors Rangers.
Olympiakos defeated Dutch side AZ Alkmaar 1-0 at home in Group H.
(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2009)
