Gunners fire as Roma slump at home

Real Madrid beat AC Milan 2-0 while Cluj hand give away two own goals to Bayern Munich in a nervy contest.

Arsenal v FC Shakhtar Donetsk - UEFA Champions League
undefined
Real Madrid came out on top after Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for his side against AC Milan [GALLO/GETTY]

Real Madrid secured a third win in the Champions League Group G by beating AC Milan 2-0 on Tuesday, while Arsenal clinched the night’s biggest victory by defeating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 to keep them top of Group H.

Bayern Munich also edged closer to the the knockout stage in a tough contest against CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca who handed two own goals  to the German side. Chelsea cruised to a 2-0 win against Moscow while AS Roma were stunned 3-1 at home by Swiss side Basel.

Bayern victory

In Munich, Cluj looked like they could cause an upset when they opened the scoring in the 28th minute. However, their captain Cadu then handed an equaliser to Bayern Munich by inadvertently deflecting the ball into his own goal just four minutes later.

This was followed by another own goal as Cluj’s Cristian Panin clumsily deflected into his own net to give the hosts a lead.

Mario Gomez then scored for his German side in the 77th minute – before Cluj pulled a goal back – helping his team to a 3-2 win.

Bayern has a six-point lead in Group E with Basel trailing second after Alexander Frei, Samuel Inkoom and Cabral scored in their 3-1 win against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

In Group F, Chelsea returned to Moscow where they had lost the final of the competition in 2008, but this time they triumphed with a 2-0 win against Spartak Moscow with first-half goals by Yuri Zhirkov and Nicolas Anelka.

Chelsea are on top of the Group F table with nine points while Marseille have three points after they beat Zilina 1-0 in the other group match.

Convincing Madrid

In a Group G fixture between the European Cup’s two most successful clubs, Real Madrid and AC Milan, Cristiano Ronaldo was the key to Madrid’s 2-0 win. The striker first scored in the 13th minute from a free kick through a gap in the defensive wall and then in the next minute set up a goal by Mesut Oezil.

Madrid’s convincing win has raised expectations that they might win their 10th champions league title, nine years after their last, under new coach, Jose Mourinho.

In the other Group G fixture, Ajax earned their first victory of the competition when they beat Auxerre 2-1.

In a spectacular but less even contest at the Emirates stadium, Arsenal fired ahead with Alex Song’s goal in the 19th minute.

Cesc Fabregas, the Gunners’ captain, marked his return from a month long absence due to a hamstring injury with a goal from the penalty spot, to help his team win 5-1.

Samir Nasri, Jack Wilshere and Marouane Chamakh also scored for Arsenal.

And the Ukrainian side’s only goal came from ex-Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva.

Shakhtar Donetsk maintained their second position in Group H, three points behind the
Gunners who lead the table with 9 points.

Braga picked up their first points with a 2-0 win over Partizan Belgrade in the other Group H fixture. 

Source: News Agencies