The Hindu : Sport / Football : Manchester United and Arsenal move up

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Saturday, Nov 10, 2007
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Manchester United and Arsenal move up

LONDON: Manchester United and Arsenal became the first teams to reach the second round of the Champions League on Wednesday, and Inter Milan overturned a two-goal deficit to beat CSKA Moscow 4-2.

United overpowered Dynamo Kiev 4-0 at Old Trafford and then discovered it had advanced because AS Roma had scored a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Sporting Lisbon in another Group F game.

Before 75,000 fans, centre back Gerard Pique headed in his first goal for United in the 31st minute, and Carlos Tevez added a second six minutes later. Wayne Rooney then made it seven goals in eight games in the 76th and Cristiano Ronaldo added the fourth in the 87th as United scored four against Dynamo for the second game in a row.

Goalless draw

Needing only a point to advance, 2006 runner-up Arsenal gained a 0-0 draw at Slavia Prague, the team it demolished 7-0 two weeks ago.

The result means that the Gunners, who are even with Manchester United in the Premier League title race, are guaranteed a spot in the last 16 although they can be caught for the top spot by Sevilla, which beat Steaua Bucharest 2-0 off two goals by Renato. Arsenal has 10 points from four games, while Sevilla has nine and Slavia has four.

FC Barcelona stayed at the top of Group E by beating Rangers 2-0 with goals by Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi, although the first goal appeared to go in off the France striker’s elbow.

Henry slid the ball home in the seventh minute from Messi’s cross and the Argentina player added the second in the 43rd after swapping passes with Ronaldinho.

The results: Champions League: Group E: Olympique Lyon 4 (Hatem Ben Arfa 6, 37, Kim Kallstrom 15, Juninho 93) bt VfB Stuttgart 2 (Mario Gomez 16, 56); Barcelona 2 (Thierry Henry 6, Lionel Messi 43) bt Rangers 0.

Group F: Manchester United 4 (Gerard Pique 31, Carlos Tevez 37, Wayne Rooney 76, Ronaldo 88) bt Dynamo Kiev 0; Sporting Lisbon 2 (Liedson 22, 64) bt AS Roma 2 (Marco Cassetti 4, Anderson Polga OG 89).

Group G: Fenerbahce 2 (Dirk Marcellis OG 28, Semih Senturk 30) bt PSV Eindhoven 0; Inter Milan 4 (Zlatan Ibrahimovic 33, 75, Esteban Cambiasso 34, 67) bt CSKA Moscow 2 (Jo 23, Vagner Love 31).

Group H: Slavia Prague 0 drew with Arsenal 0; Sevilla 2 (Renato 25, 65) bt Steaua Bucharest 0.

UEFA Cup: Group A: Larissa 2 lost to Zenit St. Petersburg 3; Nuremberg 0 lost to Everton 2; Group B: Copenhagen 0 lost to Panathinaikos 1; Aberdeen 1 drew with Lokomotiv Moscow; Group C: Mlada Boleslav 1 lost to Villarreal 2; Fiorentina 6 bt Elfsborg 1; Group D: Rennes 1 drew with Brann Bergen 1; Dynamo Zagreb 0 drew with Basel 0; Group E: Spartak Moscow 2 bt Bayer Leverkusen 1; Toulouse 2 lost to Sparta Prague 3; Group F: Bayern Munich 2 drew with Bolton Wanderers 2; Aris Salonika 3 bt Red Star Belgrade 0; Group G: Hapoel Tel Aviv 0 lost to Tottenham 2; Aalborg 1 drew with Anderlecht 1; Group H: Galatasaray 2 lost to Helsingborgs 3; Austria Vienna 1 lost to Bordeaux 2.