Champions League - Arsenal fight back

Eurosport - Thu, 18 Sep 10:02:00 2008

A late equaliser from captain William Gallas gave Arsenal a point in an entertaining 1-1 draw at Dynamo Kiev in Group G of the Champions League.

FOOTBALL Champions League Group G Dynamo Kiev Arsenal William Gallas - 0

Ismael Bangoura had put the hosts ahead on 64 minutes with a controversial penalty after he was adjudged to have been fouled by Bacary Sagna.

Until defender Gallas took the initiative to become an impromptu centre-forward, it had looked as if Dynamo were set to hold on for a mini-upset at their home ground.

But the Gunners took the risk of throwing everyone forward and, as the clock ticked down, Emmanuel Adebayor fed Theo Walcott on the right, who sent a low far-post cross that Gallas thrashed into the roof of the net from close range.

Arsenal were less than impressive throughout but had the better chances to take a first-half lead.

Robin van Persie had an early shot saved by Stanislav Bogush, while Adebayor somehow fired over when put clean through by a misplaced Roman Eremenko header.

Van Persie hit the side-netting later in the half but the miss of the opening 45 minutes came just before the break when Cesc Fabregas fired weakly at Bogush after he was given a straightforward finish by good work from Van Persie and Adebayor.

If the first half was Arsenal's, the second belonged to Kiev.

The English side fell apart defensively four minutes into the period when Bangoura was given the freedom of their half to find Eremenko, who in turn had all the time and space he needed to send a low drive fizzing against the woodwork at Manuel Almunia's near post.

Almunia pounced on the rebound before Bangoura could slide onto it, but the writing was on the wall.

The hosts bossed possession and, although Arsenal had chances through Van Persie and Adebayor on the counter, they deserved the opening goal even though the circumstances were suspect.

Gallas had misread the bounce of a long ball, which let Atanda Yussuf find space on the right to feed Bangoura in the box.

The Guinea striker was himself fouling France full-back Sagna by pulling him down with his left hand, but referee Luis Medina Cantalejo's view was obscured and all he saw was the forward go down with the defender.

The decision was poor, but Bangoura's spot-kick was classy, placed low into the bottom right, while his body and eyes sent Alumnia to the left.

Arsenal were desperate now. First they went 4-3-3, then 3-4-3 and finally they lumped Gallas up front as they pressed for a leveller.

They almost conceded two more, but Bangoura's general shooting did not match his running or penalty-taking.

But Arsene Wenger's men and oft-criticised skipper Gallas rode the waves of counter attacks to prove their point in difficult circumstances.

Porto 3-1 Fenerbahce

Porto cruised to a 3-1 win over Fenerbahce thanks to goals from Lisandro Lopez, Lucho Gonzalez and late substitute Lino.

Spaniard Daniel Guiza was on target for the Turkish side as coach Luis Aragones lost his first European match in charge of the Turkish giants.

The Portuguese hosts started brilliantly, putting pressure on their guests and forcing two early saves from Volkan Demirel.

They took the lead on 10 minutes, when Raul Meireles cleverly fed Lisandro, who sprung the Fenerbahce offside trap and finished low into the bottom right.

Porto doubled their advantage three minutes later when, after good work from Cristian Rodriguez on the left, Lucho smashed a half-volley off the ground and past Volkan from the edge of the box.

Lisandro had three great chances to make it 3-0 before, just ahead of the half hour, Guiza stole in at the far post after Volkan had saved well from Alex's header.

The scoreline stayed the time for the next hour, which flattered Fenerbahce, who barely threatened the Porto goal.

But the hosts restored their two-goal advantage in injury-time when, with the Turks desperately throwing men forward, Lino was left unmarked to finish from close range.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 21 - 40 of 40

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  1. Arsenal my foot

    From Ganiyu, on Fri 19 Sep 3:21PM
  2. what a diver were was the ref and lines men no way was­ that a penalty, he put his arm around sagna, and pulled­ sagna on top of him to get the penalty. we need camaras­ in the goalposts to stop all this teams that rely on­ set play and diving should not fined money they should­ loss points .up the gunners

    From silverfox296, on Fri 19 Sep 12:23PM
  3. it`s all good ......lets wait aand see the next match­ and will know how the team can really go this time­ around........lord femzy

    From flora_martins231, on Fri 19 Sep 8:38AM
  4. yes, somtimes you have to fight like crazzy to get a­ goal as arsenal did to level the game. bravo captain­ Gallas.

    From JOSEPH, on Thu 18 Sep 4:33PM
  5. i think adebayor is a world class striker and­ finisher...

    From jean-robin, on Thu 18 Sep 12:52PM
  6. Why does Arsenal need to wait till the very last to do­ something amazing? Wenger needs to get a world class­ striker and finnisher, he has enough great player to­ support him. All the same congrats to him.

    From Kayode, on Thu 18 Sep 11:01AM
  7. we have to give thanks to our captain gallas for­ delivering us from that unespected penalty given to kiv

    From gentle, on Thu 18 Sep 9:58AM
  8. we have to give thanks to our captain gallas for­ delivering us from that unespected penalty give to kiv

    From gentle, on Thu 18 Sep 9:58AM
  9. i always trust the boys especially when my man fabregas­ is ther i know they can deliver

    From gentle, on Thu 18 Sep 9:56AM
  10. THE REF WAS NOT FAIR FOR THE PENALTY.NEVERTHELESS­ GUNNERS FOR LIFE ! FINE FOOTBALL FOR LIFE !

    From priyecosmas, on Thu 18 Sep 9:45AM
  11. ARSenal sucks BIGTIME!!!!!!

    From ~Gt W, on Thu 18 Sep 9:13AM
  12. "Dynamo" as named, believed so much it was­ all over, relying on their walls but they forgot the­ fact that Gunners don't go out-of-fire, no matter­ how strong a wall is, our bombs will bring it down, we­ have done it long ago in the ages, IT WAS ARSENAL THAT­ BROUGHT DOWN THE WALL OF JERICHO with nothing else but­ DYNAMITES. They are just Dynamo but we have­ DYNAMITES.

    Arsene Wenger should help work more on­ Adebayor, he is a good player but not a good striker, a­ good striker can take down defenders all alone, like­ THIERY HENRY, DIDIE DROGBA, ROBINHO, and co. Adebayor­ could be better at 8th-position of the pitch, above­ all, GREATER ARE THE GUNNERS, and KUDDUS to WENGER, it­ was a nice work.

    - Owolabi, Nigeria

    From Are, on Thu 18 Sep 9:06AM
  13. Nevertheless I am a Dynamo supporter, I always have­ respected Gunners and their coach. You guys are the­ best team in UK on my opinion. Good luck for you. I­ would be happy if our both teams will come through to­ play-offs.

    From Victor K, on Thu 18 Sep 8:11AM
  14. Great game Gunners. The issues are here again about­ poor officating.Eufa should take a critical look in­ fixing this mess.They are killing the game.

    Ellamah

    From sas, on Thu 18 Sep 7:03AM
  15. GUNNERS CONGRATS,WELL DONE GUYS ,GO!GO!

    From Gideon, on Thu 18 Sep 6:58AM
  16. Well done Gunners. You are entertaining as well as­ skilful. We love you Gallas and your troups.­ Divers' future is always shaky. At Emirates, we are­ more than prepared.

    From Henderson, on Thu 18 Sep 6:50AM
  17. Young and vibrant! Gunners for life.....keep up the­ good work boyz.

    From Akinyemi, on Thu 18 Sep 6:00AM
  18. arsenal we are the best. Make its come true this year

    From PixieShortie7933, on Thu 18 Sep 4:54AM
  19. Medina Cantalejo has done it again. He was the one to,­ practically, send Italy into the finals of the WC in­ Germany through a dubious penalty, the one that called­ the referee's attention on Zidane headbutt on­ Tricky Materazzi. Has anybody checked on his ties with­ Hong Kong or Taiwan or Singapore? (This is where the­ mega bettors do business)

    From Carl D, on Thu 18 Sep 3:55AM
  20. Well done Gunners !!! i hate diver !!!

    From yukihiro_alanlai, on Thu 18 Sep 3:23AM
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