Champions League round-up

Man Utd and Chelsea made to scrap for wins

Last updated: 1st October 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Champions League round-up

Chelsea celebrate Anelka's goal

Click below for individual match reports and stats:
Group A
Bayern Munich 0 Juventus 0
Bordeaux 1 Maccabi Haifa 0
Group B
CSKA Moscow 2 Besiktas 1
Man Utd 2 Wolfsburg 1
Group C
AC Milan 0 FC Zurich 1
Real Madrid 3 Marseille 0
Group D
Apoel Nicosia 0 Chelsea 1
Porto 2 Atletico Madrid 0

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Manchester United came from behind to beat Wolfsburg as Chelsea claimed a narrow win in Cyprus.

FC Zurich caused a major upset by beating AC Milan, while Real Madrid maintained their excellent form and Bayern Munich drew with Juventus.

Manchester United moved three points clear at the top of Group B with a 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg at Old Trafford.

Both sides had won their opening matches and Wolfsburg demonstrated why they are the reigning Bundesliga champions in an intriguing but goalless first half, while United also looked threatening despite losing Michael Owen to injury early on.

Wolfsburg broke the deadlock in the 56th minute when Edin Dzeko directed a powerful header past Tomasz Kuszczak from Zvjezdan Misimovic's cross, but United responded just three minutes later as a Ryan Giggs free-kick took a wicked deflection off the defensive wall.

Michael Carrick then provided the finishing touch to an excellent move when he curled home a winner with just 12 minutes remaining.

CSKA Moscow showed they could also be a force to be reckoned with in Group B, especially on the artificial surface at the Luzhniki Stadium, with a 2-1 victory at home to Besiktas.

Alan Dzagoev opened the scoring with a spectacular early strike and Milos Krasic made it 2-0 before Ekrem Dag grabbed a late consolation for the Turkish outfit, who remain without a point.

Chelsea bounced back from their shock defeat to Wigan in the Premier League with a 1-0 success at Apoel Nicosia.

Nicolas Anelka netted the winner against Porto in the absence of the suspended Didier Drogba and he took up the goalscoring mantle again in Cyprus with a superb finish from Juliano Belletti's cut-back on 18 minutes.

The Blues withstood an intense period of pressure in the second half and clung on until the final whistle to tighten their grip on top spot in Group D.

Porto are three points further back in second after prevailing 2-0 in a hard-fought contest against Atletico Madrid in Portugal.

There was nothing to separate the sides until Falcao's clever backheel on 75 minutes and Rolando then made it 2-0 seven minutes later.

AC Milan have endured a miserable start to the Italian domestic season and their poor form continued with a 1-0 loss at home to FC Zurich.

Hannu Tihinen's audacious pirouette put Zurich ahead after 10 minutes and Milan created few chances to equalise as the Swiss side held on for a famous, and deserved, win.

A three-goal blitz midway through the second half extended Real Madrid's winning run in all competitions as Marseille were swept aside at the Santiago Bernabeu in the other game in Group C.

Real were not able to break down a spirited Marseille backline until Cristiano Ronaldo slotted home from Pepe's pass on 58 minutes.

But Kaka then scored from the penalty spot after Souleymane Diawara had been harshly sent off for a foul on Ronaldo, before the Portuguese forward added a third.

The big game in Group A saw Bayern Munich do battle with Juventus but the two European heavyweights could only play out a goalless draw.

Franck Ribery produced a few moments of sumptuous skill in the first half but the second period was less inspiring as the match ended in stalemate.

Bordeaux drew level on four points with Bayern at the top of the group following a 1-0 triumph at home to Maccabi Haifa.

Michael Ciani proved to be the match-winner for Bordeaux with a header seven minutes from time, while Baram Kayal was dismissed for the Israeli side in the closing stages.

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