Giroud treble inspires rampant Arsenal to reach last 16
Graham Wood, Reuters
Olivier Giroud grabbed a superb hat-trick as Arsenal crushed Olympiakos Piraeus 3-0 to book their spot in the Champions League's last 16 with a classy demolition job that ended the hopes of their Greek opponents on Wednesday.
With Arsenal needing an emphatic victory to make it out of Group F, France forward Giroud produced a high-calibre display to ensure the English club finished second, level on nine points with Olympiakos, but ahead by virtue of their better head-to-head record.
Giroud opened the scoring in Greece with a powerful header in the first half, doubled Arsenal's advantage with a calm left-footed finish quickly after the restart and rounded off a superb individual display with a penalty.
The victory completed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Arsenal who lost three of their first four games of the campaign and needed to win by any result other than 1-0 or 2-1 in their decisive group clash to finish second behind group winners Bayern Munich.
Chelsea outclass Porto to ease pressure on Mourinho
Clare Lovell, Reuters
Jose Mourinho's Chelsea turned from domestic whipping boys back to European stalwarts on Wednesday, beating his former club Porto 2-0 to top Champions League Group G.
A 12th-minute own goal which rebounded off Ivan Marcano under pressure from Diego Costa and a well-worked second-half strike from Brazilian Willian ensured victory for the struggling English champions and sent Porto into the Europa League.
Chelsea, cheered by a beaming owner Roman Abramovich, looked a completely different team from the one that has slumped to eight domestic defeats in 15 league games, including four at home.
The result took the pressure off Mourinho after intense speculation that the coach, who has won the Champions League with both Porto and Inter Milan, might lose his job if Chelsea failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
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Hernandez equalizer not enough for Leverkusen
Reuters
A Javier Hernandez strike gave Bayer Leverkusen a 1-1 draw against Group E winners Barcelona but it was not enough for them to reach the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.
In-form Hernandez netted his 12th goal in 11 games just three minutes after Lionel Messi had given a weakened Barca side the lead after 20 minutes.
However, the draw meant they finished third in Group E level on six points with AS Roma, who were held 0-0 by BATE Borisov, but eliminated due to a poorer head to head record.
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Roma advance but jeered by fans after 0-0 draw
Reuters
Listless AS Roma sneaked into the Champions League last 16 after a 0-0 draw with BATE Borisov at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday but were booed off the pitch by their fans.
Victory would have guaranteed Roma a place in the knockout rounds as Group E runners-up behind Barcelona, but they appeared content to play for a draw, banking on Bayer Leverkusen failing to beat Barca at the BayArena.
Rudi Garcia's side were jeered off at the final whistle as they got away with their limp performance after Leverkusen only managed a 1-1 draw against Barcelona.
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Superb Lewandowski gives Bayern 2-0 win at Dinamo
Reuters
Bayern Munich eased into the Champions League's last 16 after a second-half double by top scorer Robert Lewandowski gave them a 2-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb in their Group F match on Wednesday.
Bayern, who had already secured top spot in the group, finished with 15 points from six games, six ahead of Arsenal, who booked their berth with a 3-0 win at Olympiakos Piraeus.
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Kiev grab last-16 place with lucky break against Maccabi
Igor Nitsak, Reuters
Denys Garmash scored a fortuitous goal to earn Dynamo Kiev a 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday and enable the Ukrainian champions to grab a place in the Champions League last 16.
Playing in an empty stadium because of a UEFA ban, Dynamo's winner came courtesy of a good deal of fortune when Maccabi's Tal Ben Chaim deflected a free kick towards his own goal.
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Ghent sink Zenit to reach last 16
Reuters
Debutants Ghent became only the second Belgian side to advance to the Champions League knockout phase when they ended Zenit St Petersburg's 100 percent record in Group H with a dramatic 2-1 win on Wednesday.
Danijel Milicevic scored a left-footed winner 12 minutes from time to secure the points for Ghent after Laurent Depoitre had put them ahead at halftime, only for Artem Dzyuba to equalise in the 65th minute.
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Neville suffers as Valencia crash out
Reuters
Gary Neville endured a dispiriting start to life as a head coach when the former England defender's Valencia side lost 2-0 at home to Olympique Lyonnais on Wednesday to exit the Champions League.
Maxwell Cornet put Lyon in front eight minutes before the break and Alexandre Lacazette sealed all three points for the French side in the 76th minute with a solo breakaway effort.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
