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Olympiakos 1-0 Juventus: Kasami strikes as Old Lady stumble in Athens

Kostas Mitroglou’s cut-back was expertly swept home by the Swiss midfielder to give the Greek champions another shock victory in the group stages.

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An outstanding second-half performance from Olympiakos goalkeeper Roberto helped earn his side a 1-0 win over Juventus on Wednesday.

With the Greek side leading thanks to Pajtim Kasami’s first-half goal at the Karaiskakis Stadium in this Champions League Group A encounter, Spaniard Roberto produced a string of superb saves after the interval to ensure they claimed all three points.

In the space of 15 minutes midway through the second period, he made remarkable stops to deny Alvaro Morata, Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez on what was a frustrating night for Massimiliano Allegri’s men.

Former Fulham man Kasami had earlier struck a low finish into the bottom left-hand corner as Olympiakos continued their strong recent run of results at home on Europe’s biggest club stage.

Over the past 12 months, Olympiakos have beaten Benfica, Anderlecht, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid on their own soil, and this result against the Italian champions represented their fifth consecutive home victory in the Champions League.

Juve, who dropped points in Serie A for the first time this season on Saturday with a 1-1 draw at Sassuolo, had Chile international Arturo Vidal back in the side after he was rested at the weekend, but the midfielder failed to have a telling impact as Olympiakos held on to move onto six points at the halfway stage in the group – three more than Juventus.

The hosts made a bright start, Kostas Mitroglou flicking a half-chance wide before Alejandro Dominguez brought a flying save out of Gianluigi Buffon with a free-kick in the opening seven minutes.

Juve went close themselves five minutes later as Tevez’s stabbed effort was headed off the line by Omar Elabdellaoui as Olympiakos failed to deal with Andrea Pirlo’s corner.

Tevez did have the ball in the net in the 20th minute, but his header was rightly disallowed for offside as the hosts showed further hesitancy from a Pirlo set-piece.

The game continued to ebb and flow, and a superb touch and volley from Dominguez flashed across the face of goal in the 27th minute.

Ten minutes before the break, Olympiakos opened the scoring with a well-worked goal.

Dominguez led the break and played the ball to Mitroglou, who laid a pass back into Kasami for the midfielder to fire left-footed beyond Buffon from the edge of the penalty area.

Morata went close with a left-footed volley six minutes after the interval.

Kasami should have doubled his and Olympiakos’ tally on the hour mark, but he rolled the ball wide from six yards after being teed up by the influential Dominguez.

Juve almost took advantage of that miss five minutes later, but Roberto brilliantly parried Morata’s thumping effort from eight yards.

Roberto performed heroics once more as the game entered the final quarter of an hour, clawing away Pogba’s cross before keeping out Tevez’s close-range effort with his legs.

With nine minutes remaining, he pulled off another outstanding save, reacting sharply to tip Morata’s fierce drive onto the crossbar as Juve continued to press hard for an equaliser.

But a leveller did not arrive as the Greek side held on for a battling victory that puts them in pole position to qualify for the knockout stages.

Source Goal

Ludogorets 1-0 Basel: Minev snatches victory at the death against 10-man Swiss champions

Paulo Sousa’s men survived Serey Die’s sending off in the first half until injury time but a crisp finish from the veteran settled the encounter.

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Ten-man Basel failed to hang on to a point as Jordan Minev bagged a stoppage-time goal to seal a 1-0 win for Ludogorets on Wednesday.

The visitors were forced to play at a man disadvantage from the 18th minute when Serey Die was sent off for a challenge on Cosmin Moti, to the consternation of his team-mates.

Paulo Sousa’s side looked like holding on for a brave point until left-back Minev popped up with a dramatic winner in the first minute of stoppage time.

Ludogorets had looked devoid of ideas after Basel dropped behind the ball, reduced to shots from distance and an ambitious chip from Dani Abalo the closest they came to scoring.

But the left-back snatched victory late on, making Ludogorets the first Bulgarian team to claim a point in the competition and changing the dynamic of the group as the hosts climbed above Basel, who beat Liverpool on matchday two.

Basel started the game without the injured Marco Streller, who scored the winner against Liverpool, and 17-year-old Breel Embolo impressed in his place, leading the line and feeding off scraps for the majority of the match as he was left isolated up front.

These teams met at the play-off stage of this competition last season as Basel advanced 6-2 on aggregate.

But neither side seemed willing to give too much away in the early exchanges this time, which suited the visitors as they sought to puncture the atmosphere and keep possession.

The game burst into life in the 17th minute as Marcelinho drew an impressive save from Tomas Vaclik, meeting Fabio Espinho’s whipped free kick with a full-length diving header from eight yards.

That brought the crowd into the game, and a minute later the volume increased still further as Basel’s combative midfielder Serey Die was shown a straight red card.

The Ivorian had already committed to a series of robust challenges but this time was judged to have gone over the ball on Moti, leaving his side to play with 10 men for more than 70 minutes.

Basel proceeded to drop deeper behind the ball, but only after a period of pressure that saw Derlis Gonzalez test Vladislav Stoyanov with a curling shot following neat build-up, in the 28th minute.

Ludogorets struggled to deal with the visitors’ switch in shape, making poor decisions in the final third and failing to create anything clear-cut.

The hosts improved after the break, however, and Vaclik had to backpedal quickly to tip Abalo’s clever chip over the bar in the 52nd minute.

But Ludogorets failed to build on that good start to the second half. Younes Hamza wasted their only half chances until Minev popped up on the counter-attack with a well-struck shot from 18 yards that bounced past Vaclik and into the bottom corner.

Source Goal

Galatasaray 0-4 Borussia Dortmund: Aubameyang puts BVB on brink of qualification

Two goals from the Gabonese forward, a superb Marco Reus effort and a late strike from substitute Adrian Ramos leave Jurgen Klopp and Co. in a healthy position.

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Borussia Dortmund cemented their place at the top of Champions League Group D with a dominant 4-0 victory at Galatasaray on Wednesday.

Jurgen Klopp’s men produced a trademark display of powerful counter-attacking football and the game was essentially out of sight by half-time as Dortmund raced into a three-goal lead at the Turk Telekom Arena.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring when he applied the finishing touch to Marco Reus’ excellent low delivery and the Gabon international doubled his tally shortly before the 20-minute mark.

Reus then put Dortmund in firm control in the 41st minute with a stunning long-range effort.

There was a sour note for Dortmund when Sven Bender was forced off with an apparent elbow injury in the second half, but Adrian Ramos’ goal a minute after coming as a substitute completed the rout.

The victory was a welcome relief for Dortmund who suffered their fifth defeat in eight Bundesliga matches this season at Cologne on Saturday.

However, Dortmund continue to excel in Europe and their third pool victory means another win in the return match with Galatasaray on November 4 will confirm their spot in the knockout stages.

It is a completely different story for the hosts, though, who have just one point and face an uphill task to progress.

Dortmund were ahead after just six minutes when Henrikh Mkhitaryan set Reus free down the left and his excellent centre across the penalty area was side-footed home at the back post by Aubameyang.

Galatasaray pushed forward in search of an equaliser, with Alex Telles a threat on the left, but the visitors were a constant threat on the counter-attack and the tactic yielded a second goal in the 18th minute.

Mkhitaryan released Lukasz Piszczek beyond left-back Telles on the right and the Poland defender picked out the unmarked Aubameyang, who adjusted his feet well to sweep beyond Fernando Muslera from just outside the six-yard box.

Dortmund were finding gaps in the home defence with ease and Shinji Kagawa should have done better when he shot tamely at Muslera when one-on-one, while Aubameyang wasted a chance for his hat-trick when he inexplicably hit the post with the goal gaping from Mkhitaryan’s delivery.

However, the third arrived four minutes before half-time when Reus let fly with an unstoppable 25-yard shot that crashed over Muslera’s despairing dive and in.

Dortmund had to replace Bender with Matthias Ginter in the 55th minute, but it failed to disrupt the away side’s flow and Reus should have hit the target when his half-volley deep inside the penalty area flew high into the stands.

The Germany international wasted another chance when he shot straight at Muslera from the edge of the box, before Kagawa dragged wide from 20 yards after showing neat foot work.

But Ramos capped the result in the 83rd minute as he collected fellow substitute Ilkay Gundogan’s throughball and kept his cool to give Dortmund a huge shot in the arm ahead of a home game against Hannover when they return to domestic action this weekend.

Source Goal

U-19 HAGL beats Malaysian U-21s at invitational tourney

The under-19 team from the Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) – Arsenal JMG football academy yesterday defeated Malaysia 2-1 at the international U-21 Thanh Nien Newspaper Cup in Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta.

Players of the U-19 Hoang Anh Gia Lai team celebrate after scoring the opening goal against Malaysia yesterday in Can Tho

Players of the U-19 Hoang Anh Gia Lai team celebrate after scoring the opening goal against Malaysia yesterday in Can Tho


Over 30,000 spectators at Can Tho Stadium waved and cheered the relentless attacks organized by both side during the game.
Just nine minutes into the match, left midfielder Hong Duy was in the right position to receive a corner kick and headed home the opening goal.
In the 51st minute, he accelerated from the middle of the field, dribbling the ball towards the Malaysian goal, and blasted it home to double the advantage to 2-0.
Malaysia reduced the gap to 2-1 in the 60th minute by scoring an outstanding goal.
Other Vietnamese players who showed off their talent at previous U-19 tournaments, such as Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, and Tuan Anh, impressed Can Tho fans with their skills.
The U-19 HAGL team needs to draw with U-21 Sydney, from Australia, tomorrow to advance to the semifinals of the Thanh Nien Newspaper Cup, being held from October 19-28 with the participation of six teams divided in two groups.
In group A, Thailand drew Singapore 2-2 yesterday. Tomorrow, Thailand will take on the Vietnamese national U-21 football team.

Source Tuoitre

Champions League sets record with 40 goals in one night

The goal machines of Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk cranked into top gear on Tuesday as the Champions League captivated its continental audience with a record 40 goals in one eight-game night.

Bayern Munich's Xherdan Shaqiri (R) shoots to score as he is challenged by AS Roma's Kostas Manolas during their Champions League soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Rome October 21, 2014.

Bayern Munich’s Xherdan Shaqiri (R) shoots to score as he is challenged by AS Roma’s Kostas Manolas during their Champions League soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Rome October 21, 2014.


Bayern, who humbled Roma 7-1, Chelsea, who beat Maribor 6-0, and Shakhtar, who enjoyed a 7-0 win at Bate Borisov, contributed 20 between them on an evening to forget for defenders and goalkeepers alike.

Ukraine’s Shakhtar became the first team to score six times in the first half of a Champions League match, and their victory was the joint-best for an away side.
Shakhtar’s Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano became the first player to score four before halftime – and at 17 minutes he now holds the competition record for the quickest four-goal tally.
He added another late on to join Lionel Messi as the only players to have netted five times in a Champions League outing.
Messi scored once in Barcelona’s 3-1 victory over Ajax to pull level with Cristiano Ronaldo on 69 Champions League goals, two behind all-time leading scorer Raul.
Chelsea’s win against Maribor was their record victory in the Champions League.

Source Reuters

Arsenal escape UEFA punishment

UEFA has dropped its disciplinary proceedings against Arsenal in regards to their Champions League meeting with Galatasaray earlier this month.

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The London club were charged with “insufficient organisation (lack of body searching)” after fireworks and missiles were thrown on to the Emirates Stadium pitch during a 4-1 home win on October 1.

A statement published by European football’s governing body on Monday confirmed disciplinary proceedings against Arsenal had been closed, while Galatasaray have been fined 50,000 euros (£39,570).

The statement added: “The Turkish team have also been ordered to contact Arsenal FC within 30 days for the settlement of the damages caused by its supporters.

At the Emirates, several flares were thrown onto the pitch from the section where the 3,000-strong travelling Galatasaray supporters were located towards the end of the first half, causing the Group D match to be briefly halted.

Metropolitan Police confirmed there had been six arrests as part of their operation for the European tie, two of which were for entering the ground with flares.

UEFA views it as the home side’s responsibility to search supporters for any illegal items before they come into the stadium.

There were disturbances before the match, when Galatasaray fans had let off flares in streets around Finsbury Park and thrown some into the Tollington Arms pub.

A strong police presence was on hand, including officers in riot gear and with dogs, while Arsenal stewards conducted searches of bags on the turnstiles, when half-a-dozen flares and fireworks were confiscated, although some were able to be smuggled in by Turkish supporters.

Arsenal reported damage to around 100 seats in the away end.

Also punished by UEFA on Monday evening were Swiss club Basle, who have been fined 40,000 euros (£31,640) after objects were thrown by home fans during their 1-0 Champion League victory over Liverpool at St Jakob-Park on October 1.

The Andorran Football Federation has been fined 10,000 euros (£7,920) and the Football Association of Wales 5,000 euros (£3,960) after visiting fans invaded the Andorra la Vella pitch on September 9.

Gareth Bale’s late winner in a 2-1 European Championship qualifying victory for Chris Coleman’s side sparked the invasion and, while the visiting federation has been duly sanctioned, the Andorran governing body has received the heavier punishment due to “insufficient organisation”.

Source Foxsports

Bale doubtful for Liverpool clash

Gareth Bale is battling for fitness ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League match at Liverpool after the club announced he is suffering from a buttock muscle injury.

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The 25-year-old Wales star was an unused substitute in Saturday’s Primera Division win over Levante on his return from international duty, while reports in Spain said he also sat out training on Monday.

That raised doubts over Bale’s availability for the trip to Anfield, as well as this weekend’s El Clasico with Barcelona, although Madrid have said for now they will keep an eye on the player.

A statement on the club’s website read: “After tests carried out on Gareth Bale by the Real Madrid Sanitas medical services, he has been diagnosed with a muscular injury in the right pyramidalis muscle. His progress will be monitored.”

Bale played the full 90 minutes in both of Wales’ Euro 2016 qualifiers against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cyprus.

Source Foxsports

Madrid will be defending their 100 per cent record in Champions League Group B at Liverpool, who have won one and lost one so far

Vargas cameo impresses Redknapp

Harry Redknapp believes Eduardo Vargas can fire the goals to guide QPR to Premier League safety.

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Chile striker Vargas twice thought he had rescued a point for Rangers in Sunday’s clash with Liverpool, only for Steven Caulker’s own goal to hand the Reds a 3-2 victory.

Rangers boss Redknapp admitted he will be hard pressed to leave Napoli loan recruit Vargas out of his starting line-up after his two-goal cameo at Loftus Road.

“I’ve got no doubts we’ll be okay and that we’ll stay up,” said Redknapp, despite QPR remaining rooted to the bottom of the Premier League.

“And the little boy Vargas has given me even more confidence.

“To see him come on and get two goals, when he got two for Chile as well in midweek: he’s a goalscorer.

“And he nearly scored another at the end with Skrtel, when he was coming in to dive in and head it.

“He’ll score goals and he’s going to be a big asset for us. It’s going to be difficult to leave him out of the team.”

Former Tottenham boss Redknapp has shrugged off speculation linking the likes of Tim Sherwood to a Loftus Road takeover.

Les Ferdinand has arrived as head of football operations, but Redknapp remains in overall senior control.

Holland midfielder Leroy Fer struck the crossbar twice in Sunday’s first half where QPR were almost totally dominant, with Bobby Zamora causing untold headaches for Liverpool’s defence.

Former Spurs striker Zamora seized on poor positioning from Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren and holding midfielder Emre Can to dictate QPR’s play.

Zamora teed up both gilt-edged chances for Fer, with Redknapp hailing his 33-year-old forward’s astute play.

Should the QPR boss opt to move Vargas into the starting line-up then his praise of Zamora hints at Charlie Austin dropping to the bench.

“They couldn’t play Bobby could they? That was our plan,” said Redknapp.

“I thought we played good football when we had to, dropped it up to Bobby and joined him when we had to.

“He was unplayable I thought for 70 minutes.

“They are a good group of lads, and they deserved something out of that game.

“I just feel sorry for them, they gave everything.”

A frustrated Redknapp bemoaned QPR’s injury run, with Rio Ferdinand picking up a groin issue and Sandro suffering a recurrence of his original groin strain too.

“Jordon Mutch came in, who I think is going to be a top player, but we can’t get him fit at the moment, he’s got a hamstring, so he can’t play,” said Redknapp.

“Sandro’s got a groin (problem) again, he came off on Sunday; it’s been difficult to get a settled team.

“Joey Barton’s out, has been for six, seven weeks, it’s been difficult getting people fit.

“Rio had a groin problem as well, he had an injection in the week and hadn’t trained.”

Source Foxsports

Enrique remains focused on Ajax

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique insists his team’s focus is solely on Tuesday night’s Champions League meeting against Ajax.

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The Catalan club have a busy few days ahead, with the visit of Dutch champions Ajax swiftly followed by Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated clash with bitter rivals Real Madrid in the domestic Primera Division.

El Clasico is already making headlines in the Spanish media, yet Enrique is not interested in anything but the European competition, in which they will be looking to bounce back from last month’s defeat to Paris St Germain in Group F.

He told a press conference: “The only game we have on our minds is that of Ajax.

“Ajax are a very well-organised team that know how to attack. After winning a game and losing another, the third is a huge match for us. It’s at home and very important for our qualification. And we need the support of the fans.

“We are used to playing every three or four days, and the most important match for us at the moment is the one against Ajax, not El Clasico.”

Ajax are also foremost in the mind of Brazil forward Neymar, who believes the Eredivisie titleholders will be no pushovers.

He said: “Tomorrow we have a match we have to win, and only after that we will start thinking about El Clasico.

“It will be a very difficult and a very important match. We always play to win but I believe Ajax to be a great team both in defence and in attack. We will have to work hard to win.”

Barca defender Adriano has been ruled out of the game with hamstring trouble, while there are also doubts over the fitness of midfielder Sergio Busquets.

According to Foxsports

Di Matteo returns to Champions League

Following the retirements of Sir Alex Ferguson and Jupp Heynckes, there are few clubs in Europe who can lay claim to having a Champions League-winning coach in charge.

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Yet Roberto Di Matteo’s Schalke are one of them.

Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are the only other clubs in the competition to be led by a coach already successful in Europe’s elite club competition, meaning the Royal Blues are in illustrious company.

They host Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday night, with Di Matteo looking to keep his pursuit going to join Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Heynckes, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Ernst Happel in an exclusive group of coaches to have won the title with two clubs.

“We’re delighted to be in the Champions League because this is a pretty special competition,” said the man who guided Chelsea to glory in 2012.

“We hope still to be in Europe after Christmas too, and these two games against Sporting are crucial for that.”

Last time out, Schalke – then under Di Matteo’s predecessor, Jens Keller – were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Maribor.

That result has left Group G wide open, even if leaders Chelsea will be the favourites to go through.

“I have not discarded Maribor yet,” said Di Matteo. “That is why these two games (against Sporting) are so important.”

Two wins out of two would allow the Royal Blues to go into their game against the Slovenians needing probably only one win to go through to the last 16, but Sporting need the points too to keep their hopes alive having drawn one and lost one of their opening matches.

“We can’t afford to let Sporting get into the game,” said Italian Di Matteo, who liked what he saw on his debut on the Schalke bench at the weekend.

“The atmosphere was amazing. The fans really created a fantastic atmosphere and got behind the team for 90 minutes, and that really impressed me.

“That’s what I want also against Lisbon. That win did us all good and now I hope we can keep another three points in Schalke.”

Sporting ended league rivals Porto’s 11-game unbeaten run with victory in the Portuguese Cup at the weekend, extending their own unbeaten start to the season domestically to eight games.

Summer recruit Nani was on target again on Saturday and the Portuguese side’s hopes will be pinned on their own man who has already won the Champions League, and who says he feels at home back in Lisbon.

“The main thing that has gone through my head is how happy I am to be here and to be close to the people I like,” said the 27-year-old to Champions Magazine.

“The people like me too.”

Source Foxsports