Arsenal were left to rue missed chances as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium. The German outfit started brightly and went in front in the 16th minute, with long-term Liverpool target Henrikh Mkhitaryan driving a shot past Wojciech Szczesny after Arsenal’s man-of-the-moment Aaron Ramsey gifted Dortmund possession on the edge of the box. Jurgen Klopp’s men continued their familiar pressing play throughout the opening half, though the Gunners slowly got a foothold in the game and managed to pull one back just before the break. Ramsey made amends for his earlier mistake with some clever midfield play to give Bacary Sagna space on the right, and the defender’s whipped cross was met well by Olivier Giroud, who rounded the keeper before smashing home a volley to equalise. Arsenal were the dominant force in the second-half but Arsene Wenger will lament his side’s inability to convert their superior possession into goals. Star striker Robert Lewandowski hit the winner for the German side on the break with eight minutes left, the Polish forward exploiting a gaping hole in the Gunners defence to fire in a well-placed volley, as Arsenal fell to their first defeat since losing to Aston Villa on the opening day of the season. Meanwhile, Chelsea rise to the top of their Champions League group following a comfortable 3-0 away win over German outfit Schalke. Blues striker Fernando Torres continued his fine form in Europe with two goals, while he played a part in Chelsea’s third, with Belgian star Eden Hazard coolly slotting in a shot after slicing through the leaky Schalke defence. Torres gave the visiting Blues the lead at half-time after opening the scoring in the fifth minute, heading home on his 100th start for the west London side. Jose Mourinho’s man looked nervy after the break as the German outfit, who were without top striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, looked to pinch the equaliser despite their lack of attacking options. That was until Torres netted his second in the 70th minute with a simple finish after good work from Oscar, while Chelsea put their dominance to good use as Hazard put the game to bed with a late third. Elsewhere, Celtic shocked Dutch giants Ajax with a 2-1 victory at Celtic Park. The Bhoys took a surprise lead when Scottish starlet James Forrest tucked away a penalty on the stroke of half-time, and the three points were secured after Beram Kayal’s deflected shot found its way past Ajax stopper Stefano Denswil. Lasse Schone pulled one back for the Amsterdam outfit with a long-range strike after Celtic’s Nir Biton was sent off, but it was too little too late for the visitors. The result gave Neil Lennon’s side a huge boost in their bid to make the knockout stages, with Group H rivals Barcelona and AC Milan playing out a 1-1 draw.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 04:40:29 +0000
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