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 1 - 20 of 40

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  1. GUNNERS 4 LIFE.THIS CUP IS OURS

    From tobi, on Thu 18 Sep 2:16AM
  2. I'll take the draw. The Gunner forwards were flat today and got jerked on a penalty. Yes, they did deserve the tie. Next game, they will win.

    From Walter Von Doom, on Thu 18 Sep 1:14AM
  3. go gunners

    From Topo, on Thu 18 Sep 12:14AM
  4. let's look at the 5 british teams in this weeks first champions league match, Liverpool didn't dominate, they were lucky to win 2-1 at Marseille, but the second half was Olympique putting the pressure on Liverpool, and Pepe Reina save them, Chelsea was very dominant despite whatever Phillip Scolari said about their second half performance. Man U was toothless, They weren't scoring much. As for Arsenal, They were doing well in the first half, once Dynamo Scored, and Song was Subbed out, Dynamo was looking to score the second goal, but it was entertaining to see Gallas score the Draw, Arsenal Deserved the Draw, However The Penalty was bogus, glad the bangoura was yellow carded for diving. Celtic couldn't score vs 'Rangers Slayer' Aalborg, guess it wasn't a fluke win for Aalborg after all.

    From Neo, on Thu 18 Sep 12:10AM
  5. Let's be honest for a moment please: Arsenal was lucky to equalize...

    From Half A Brain, on Wed 17 Sep 11:49PM
  6. another unlucky night but its good to have away goal! well done gunners!!

    From FEMI, on Wed 17 Sep 10:49PM
  7. That penalty was bogus bogus bogus. Diver. Actor. Let's get Nasri back and recruit Veloso and Arsenal will be unstoppable

    From tom h, on Wed 17 Sep 10:21PM
  8. Yeah, that penalty was bogus. Diver.

    From tom h, on Wed 17 Sep 10:18PM
  9. a bore draw?!?!?!?! come on you reds!!! make the euro dream live on!!

    From Alan, on Wed 17 Sep 10:03PM
  10. i hate foot ball players that dive their way to victory ,
    over all unlucky to the gunners

    From 4ever gooner, on Wed 17 Sep 10:01PM
  11. well done arsenal the only british team that did the buisness tonight.man u were just a waste of space.

    From Mark, on Wed 17 Sep 9:55PM
  12. Gallas is amazin...pity that the match turned out to be a draw...if it wasn't for the ruddy referee who awarded that fake penalty, we Gunners would have won this game.

    From Al, on Wed 17 Sep 9:54PM
  13. How is Gallas our saviour "again"? This is only the second big goal since the equalizer against MANUre last season...

    From mcharden, on Wed 17 Sep 9:54PM
  14. arsenal wer the best. it was way not a pennie. comon gooners

    From Gillian, on Wed 17 Sep 9:53PM
  15. Great Gunners! Congrats! We believe in you and what you can do. Keep up the good fight. Next, we must beat these bunch of over-rated and over-paid man.u. and chelsea run abouts to show them what football is all about. Cheers boys and only ARSENE knows anyway.

    From rawlings u, on Wed 17 Sep 9:50PM
  16. Gallas is our saviour again. Beautiful play.

    From BGZ, on Wed 17 Sep 9:47PM
  17. come on u gunners , we r arsenes army

    From 4ever gooner, on Wed 17 Sep 7:47PM
  18. Up the Gunners lets win it this time.We have the players and we are capable of doing it so lets show the rest of europe WE ARE THE BEST!!!

    From allan.holden1@..., on Wed 17 Sep 7:46PM
  19. come on arsenal

    From Danny, on Wed 17 Sep 7:44PM
  20. Hope fully US GUNNERS WIN?

    From zakim1301, on Wed 17 Sep 7:03PM
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