UCL: Arsenal, Chelsea lose, as Lewandowski Scores Another Hat-trick
Arsenal and Chelsea had a Champions League night to forget on Tuesday, as a Robert Lewandowski hat-trick helped Bayern Munich crush Dinamo Zagreb.
Champions Barcelona followed up their opening Group E draw at Roma coming from behind with two successive goals in three minutes to defeat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1.
The Germans appeared to have the three points in the bag after Kyriakos Papadopoulos’s header before the break.
Advertisement
But Luis Suarez turned the game around in the final 10 minutes as Sergi Roberto tapped home the rebound after the Uruguayan’s initial effort had been saved.
And the Barcelona striker thumped home a stunning effort to hand Barca a hard-fought three points, two minutes later.
After the game, the striker had this to say; “We couldn’t play great football, but we had to win the game. We had to show we are the champions.”
Jose Mourinho’s return to Porto, the team who the Portuguese guided to the 2004 title, proved an unhappy affair.
Advertisement
Andre Andre’s opener for Porto late in the first half was quickly cancelled out by a superb Willian free-kick, but Maicon’s 52nd-minute header proved to be the difference in this Group G clash.
Dynamo Kiev, 2-0 winners over Maccabi Tel Aviv, top the table on goal difference with Chelsea in third.
It was a good performance with two ridiculous mistakes,” said Mourinho.
“The second goal is a really bad mistake. We watch dozens of repetitions of Porto taking corners. I thought we were completely ready for that.
“But apart from that it was a balanced performance. The defenders played well and had no problems, but two ridiculous mistakes and we were punished,” he added.
Advertisement
Arguably the most stunning result of the evening emerged from the Emirates Stadium, where Greek champions Olympiakos shocked Arsenal 3-2, to end a 12-match losing run in England, leaving the Gunners last in Group F.
“It is still possible to qualify but it is difficult to swallow losing a game like that,” said the Arsenal boss
“We lost it on a lack of defensive concentration and bad luck. They had four shots on goal and we conceded three goals.
“A goalkeeper (Ospina) can make a mistake. That doesn’t explain that we lose the game. It happened to Petr Cech already this season.”
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich cruised towards the knockout stages after Lewandowski’s hat-trick, and goals from Douglas Costa and Mario Goetze crushed Dinamo Zagreb 5-0.
