Champions League round-up

Wins for British trio as Valencia go out

Last updated: 28th November 2007   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Champions League round-up

Torres and Gerrard celebrate

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Liverpool and Celtic both recorded vital home wins in the UEFA Champions League as Chelsea moved through to the knockout phase.

Valencia are out of the competition after drawing with Schalke, Milan drew with Benfica and Besiktas beat Marseille.

Real Madrid are still waiting on qualification after losing away to Werder Bremen, while Olympiakos won at Lazio.

Last season's runners-up Liverpool hammered 2004 winners Porto 4-1 at Anfield to now require victory in Marseille in a fortnight to qualify.

Liverpool took the lead on 19 minutes when Steven Gerrard's corner picked out Fernando Torres unmarked at the far post and the club's record signing headed home.

But Porto drew level on 33 minutes when Lisandro Lopez headed past a slow to react Jose Reina in the Liverpool goal.

A storming late rally secured the points for Liverpool, with Torres restoring the lead with a cool finish on 78 minutes.

Gerrard then added a penalty on 84 minutes, after Milan Stepanov handballed, and Peter Crouch wrapped up the scoring with an unconvincing header two minutes from time.

Besiktas must beat Porto in their final game to advance after posting a late 2-1 win at home to Marseille.

A brilliantly executed free-kick from Rodrigo Tello put Besiktas ahead on 27 minutes, but Marseille full-back Taye Taiwo's 25-yard drive eluded the grasp of Rustu Recber on 65 minutes for the equaliser.

But with two minutes to go, Bobo capitalised on slack defending to fire in from an angle to keep Besiktas in the competition.

Chelsea secured top spot in Group B after an emphatic 4-0 win over Rosenborg in Norway.

It took Didier Drogba just eight minutes to get on the score sheet in Trondheim, thumping home the rebound after Joe Cole's shot had been parried.

Drogba made it 2-0 on 20 minutes when he finished from close range after good work from Shaun Wright-Phillips and Alex's low free-kick from 35 yards somehow found its way into the net on 40 minutes.

Chelsea added a fourth goal 20 minutes from time when Cole was quickest to react after Michael Essien's shot had been spilled.

Valencia are out after a 0-0 draw at home to Schalke, with the Spaniards having David Albelda sent off in the first half.

Massimo Donati scored a dramatic late winner as Celtic beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 at Parkhead.

Celtic suffered a nightmare start when falling behind after just four minutes when Brandao finished coolly after finding space between defenders.

But the Bhoys were level on 45 minutes when Jiri Jarosik hammered home a volley from a tight angle following poor defending by Shakhtar and Donati scored from the edge of the area in injury-time.

Also in Group D, Milan are through after drawing 1-1 with Benfica to ensure the Portuguese side can no longer qualify.

Andrea Pirlo's long-range drive put Milan ahead on 15 minutes, but Benfica levelled five minutes later through Maxi Pereira.

Real Madrid failed to book a spot in the next round after slipping to a 3-2 defeat at Werder Bremen.

Bremen enjoyed the dream start when Markus Rosenberg scuffed home the opener on four minutes, only for Robinho to equalise 10 minutes later.

Boubacar Sanogo's clipped finish put Bremen back in front before the break and Aaron Hunt flicked the ball past Iker Casillas for the hosts' third goal on 58 minutes.

A delicate Ruud van Nistelrooy chip put Real back in the game on 71 minutes, but an equaliser was not forthcoming.

Olympiakos are level on points with leaders Real after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Lazio.

There was a whiff of controversy about Lazio's goal on 30 minutes when the ball appeared to cross the line before Tomasso Rocchi pulled back for Goran Pandev to score.

Olympiakos drew level five minutes later through Luciano Galletti and the Greeks grabbed the winner on 64 minutes when Darko Kovacevic tapped in Predrag Djordjevic's cross.

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