FOOTBALL AROUND THE WORLD: Youth, experience and milestone moments; Shakhtar Donetsk pulled off the most impressive result of the first instalment of Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League, seeing off European champions Chelsea in style

October 27, 2012

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In this week’s stats review, the spotlight on landmarks are for Francesco Totti, Barcelona and the Bundesliga, the penalty heroics of Carlos Arias and the return of Edgar Davids.

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matches was the landmark reached by the Bundesliga on Friday, and Hoffenheim and Greuther Furth ensured that it was marked in some style. The two teams involved in this milestone fixture fought out a thrilling 3-3 draw, with Lasse Sobiech rescuing a point for Hoffenheim with the very last touch of the game. A historic weekend in the German top flight also witnessed the setting of a new record, with Bayern Munich becoming the first team to start a Bundesliga season with eight successive wins. Their 5-0 victory at Fortuna Dusseldorf, who had conceded just three times in their previous seven matches, was also Jupp Heynckes’ 300th success as a Bundesliga coach. Champions Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, are not faring so well, having surrendered their 17-match unbeaten run at home to a Schalke side that now leads their old rivals by five points.

217

Serie A goals have now been racked up by Francesco Totti, establishing the Roma captain as the third-highest marksman in the league’s history. The 36-year-old was on target as I Giallorossi came from 2-0 down to beat Genoa, moving beyond Jose Altafini and Giuseppe Meazza and edging closer to second-placed Gunnar Nordahl (225). Silvio Piola, with 274, holds the overall record. It proved to be a good weekend for the teams from the capital as Lazio beat AC Milan 3-2, their highest-scoring performance against I Rossoneri in 13 years. It extended to five matches Massimiliano Allegri’s winless run against I Biancocelesti since moving to the San Siro, and left Milan having lost five or their opening eight Serie A matches for the first time since 1941.

100

UEFA Champions League wins was the milestone reached by Barcelona last night, enabling them to join the competition’s only other centurions, Manchester United and Real Madrid. The Catalans also set a new club record sequence of 18 home European matches without defeat, and are within another two of equalling the Spanish record, held by Valencia. They did, though, leave it late against a stubborn Celtic side who had been on course to claim a point until the fourth and final minute of injury time. The Scottish champions had succeeded in keeping at bay Lionel Messi, who on Saturday scored a hat-trick against Deportivo La Coruna to move on to 59 goals in all competitions in 2012, surpassing his previous personal best of 58 in 2010. The little Argentinian also broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for most La Liga goals in a calendar year with his 44th of 2012, not to mention becoming the first Barcelona player in history to rack up 15 hat-tricks in the Spanish top flight.

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penalties were saved by Carlos Arias on Sunday or, to be more accurate, the Oriente Petrolero goalkeeper saved the same penalty three times over. Impossible though this may seem, it came about because Arias – facing up to Gabriel Rios of Bolivian top flight opponents Universitario – pushed away the initial effort but was penalised by the officials for moving off his line before the ball was struck. History repeated itself at the second attempt, with Rios again denied by Arias before a retake was ordered for the self-same offence. Edgar Escalante then assumed penalty-taking duties, but he fared no better - and this time the goalkeeper’s intervention was adjudged to be legal. Arias duly emerged as the hero of a hard-fought 1-1 draw for his struggling side.

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year, 11 months and 20 days after making what seemed to be the final appearance of his glittering career, Edgar Davids returned to competitive action on Saturday. The former UEFA Champions League winner has taken on the roles of manager, player and captain of fourth-tier English side Barnet, and he made an inspirational impact, leading the Bees to a 4-0 victory – their first of the season – against Northampton Town. There were also landmarks further up the divisions, and at the other end of the age scale, with Raheem Sterling – at 17 years and 316 days - becoming Liverpool’s second-youngest Premier League goalscorer behind Michael Owen, and the eighth-youngest in the division’s history. The following day, another emerging talent, German midfielder Serge Gnabry (17 years, 98 days), became the second-youngest player to turn out for Arsenal in the Premier League.

Champs defeated as big guns struggle

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Shakhtar Donetsk pulled off the most impressive result of the first instalment of Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League, seeing off European champions Chelsea in style.

Manchester United and Barcelona were both made to work hard in their closely contested home victories over Braga (3-2) and Celtic (2-1) respectively, as were Juventus, who played out a 1-1 stalemate with Danish outsiders Nordsjaelland, their third consecutive draw of this campaign.

The big game
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Chelsea
Goals: Alex Teixeira 4, Fernandinho 52 (Shakhtar Donetsk); Oscar 88 (Chelsea)It was Mircea Lucescu who won the most hotly anticipated tactical battle of the evening, negating Roberto Di Matteo’s gameplan of unlocking the Ukrainian defence through the middle. Chelsea were caught cold in the opening minutes of the Group E clash, falling behind to an Alex Teixeira snapshot that eluded the outstretched right hand of goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Things went from bad to worse for the defending champions, as Frank Lampard was forced to go off injured. Second to the ball and consistently outpaced by a lively home team, the Blues found themselves 2-0 down just after half-time, Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho breaking into the right-hand side of the box and blasting past Cech.

A goal from Oscar two minutes from the end, which saw the young Chelsea star knock home a fine Branislav Ivanovic cross that was dummied by Eden Hazard, provided nothing more than a late consolation.

The other games
Group E
Nordsjaelland 1-1 JuventusThe Danish outfit had their fans dreaming of an unlikely success after Mikkel Beckmann’s superb free-kick found its way past Gianluigi Buffon to hand them the lead over Italian champions Juventus.

With ’keeper Jesper Hansen on excellent form, it appeared as if it might well be the home side’s night up until the 81st minute, when Mirko Vucinic turned in Mauricio Isla's cross with aplomb, securing a third successive point for La Vecchia Signora in this season’s competition, and obtaining Juventus' ninth draw in a row in European competition. The Italians are third in the section, while the Danes remain bottom.

Group FBATE Borisov 0-3 Valencia
Lille 0-1 Bayern MunichValencia brought BATE Borisov down to earth with a bump, soaking up considerable Belarusian pressure before hitting them on the counter-attack with an eye-catching Roberto Soldado hat-trick. With two wins already under their belt, the home team may have been guilty of overconfidence, but it was the Spaniards’ experience, allied to Soldado’s clinical finishing, that swung the balance in the end.

Consequently, Valencia move to the top of the group on goal difference, above Bayern Munich, who defeated Lille via a Thomas Muller penalty, during a match where goalscoring opportunities were at a premium.

Group GSpartak Moscow 2-1 Benfica
Barcelona 2-1 CelticBarcelona have not had things their own way at home in the tournament so far, and this encounter doubtless had the Camp Nou faithful shifting uncomfortably in their seats at times. Celtic took the lead in the 18th minute through an unfortunate own goal by Javier Mascherano, during one of the away side’s rare incursions into opposition territory.

Typically, Barça did not appear unduly concerned, continuing to pass their way towards the Celtic box from a multitude of angles. Andres Iniesta’s well-worked goal provided his team with a deserved equaliser, but Fraser Forster’s remarkable performance between the sticks for the Scottish giants appeared to have earned his team-mates a draw, until Jordi Alba got on the end of a deep Adriano cross in the final minute of stoppage time to claim all three points for the Catalans.

Spartak Moscow, meanwhile, overcame Benfica courtesy of a high-octane performance from Brazilian midfield man Rafael Carioca. The Portuguese heavyweights pressed hard in the second half, but to no avail. 

Group HManchester United 3-2 Braga
Galatasaray 1-1 ClujFor just the second time in their history, Manchester United succeeded in reversing a two-goal deficit in the UEFA Champions League. 2-0 down after 20 minutes, Alex Ferguson’s men subsequently launched countless attacks in the direction of the Portuguese goal. A magnificent pair of headers from Mexican forward Javier Hernandez plus a goal by defender Jonny Evans helped to turn the match around, generating a collective sigh of relief around Old Trafford in the process.

In the pool’s other match, Galatasaray dominated Cluj for the majority of their duel in Istanbul, but the Turks were forced to content themselves with a draw, and will likely harbour regrets about Felipe Melo’s missed first-half penalty. The Romanians now sit in second place in Group H, while Galatasaray lie fourth.

The playerA highly popular player in his adopted land of Portugal, Brazil-born Alan Osorio da Costa Silva, also known as Alan, had to wait until the age of 33 to find the net on the European stage, but he chose a fitting venue to break his duck, scoring twice – with a fine header and a clinical near-post finish – in the opening twenty minutes at Old Trafford and giving Manchester United fans a real fright in the process.

Having come through the ranks at Brazilian outfit Ipatinga, Alan arrived in Portugal in 2001, spending four seasons with Maritimo, before enjoying spells with Porto and Vitoria Guimaraes. The winger-cum-forward then joined Braga in 2008, where he has since become one of the first names on the teamsheet. 

Goal of the night Barcelona 1-1 Celtic, Andres Iniesta 45Slotting the ball through a scrum of flailing Scottish legs, Lionel Messi found Iniesta on the edge of the box. The Spain international transmitted the ball to compatriot Xavi, who returned the favour instantly. Continuing his run, Iniesta burst between two Celtic defenders to direct the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the net, sending the expectant Catalan crowd into raptures.

The stat
17 – The number of Champions League matches in which Chelsea have scored at least one goal. The London club are the seventh participants in the competition to achieve such a feat, but the ongoing overall record of 29 – held by Barcelona – will likely take quite some time to surpass.

The statWill Juventus qualify from Group E?