The Newsroom reviews week 2 of the UEFA Champions League.
Walcott at the double for Arsenal
Arsenal carried over their fine form in the Premier League to defeat Swiss side FC Basel 2-0 at the Emirates. It took just seven minutes for the Gunners to get on the board: striker Alexis Sanchez’s short cross found Theo Walcott dashing into the box as he headed it in to make it 1-0. Sanchez and Walcott linked up again with some brilliant one-touch passing which sent Walcott through on goal to strike it past Basel keeper Tomas Vaclik.
Man City held at Celtic Park
A Moussa Dembele brace helped Celtic collect a point against Manchester City in a 3-3 draw. The hosts stunned City in the third minute when Dembele capped off a well-executed set-piece play to give Celtic the lead. However, the lead didn’t last long when an Aleksandar Kolarov strike deflected off Fernandinho who put it past Celtic keeper Craig Gordon to level things up. Aussie Tom Rogic orchestrated a counter-attack which saw Kieran Tierney’s strike deflect off Raheem Sterling who put it in his own net. Sterling went from villain to hero when he equalised just eight minutes later. An audacious bicycle kick from Mousa Dembele gave Celtic the lead once again but Nolito’s effort ensured that City left Glasgow with a point.
Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco the difference for Atletico Madrid
A Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco strike in the 35th minute was the deciding factor in Atletico’s encounter with Bayern Munich. Diego Simeone’s men pressed relentlessly and Bayern Munich failed to respond, giving Atletico all three points on offer to send them to the top of group D.
FC Barcelona narrowly beat Borussia Monchengladbach
Barcelona held their position on top of group C as they narrowly defeated M’gladbach 2-1. Things didn’t start well for La Blaugrana as M’gladbach’s Raffael pounced on Sergio Busquets’ mistake to send through Thorgan Hazard, making it 1-0 to the hosts. Barcelona fought back in the second half and Arda Turan levelled in the 65th minute. The visitors then put themselves in the lead when centre-back Gerard Pique tapped home in the 74th minute from a corner and guaranteed Barcelona the win. – Ben Owusu
Other fixtures:
Ludogorets Razgrad 1-3 Paris St Germain
Besiktas 1-1 Dynamo Kiev
Napoli 4-2 Benfica
FC Rostov 2-2 PSV Eindhoven
Photo of Theo Walcott showing sportsmanship from the Arsenal FC Twitter feed.
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