CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WRAP: Real Madrid cruise past Liverpool as Arsenal come back from the dead
Matchday 3 of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League is now complete following eight fixtures on Wednesday night.
Matchday 3 of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League is now complete following eight fixtures on Wednesday night.
In the night’s most anticipated contest, Real Madrid comfortably defeated Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield despite a strong beginning from the home side.
Brendan Rodgers’ Reds created a number of chances early on but the devastating Cristiamo Ronaldo put them on the back foot in the 23rd minute.
The Portuguese star played a neat one-two with James Rodriguez which saw the Colombian flick a deft ball back into his path which produced a stunning half-volley from Ronaldo under immense pressure for his 20th goal in all competitions this season.
It got a little worse for Liverpool seven minutes later when Karim Benzema headed home a cross from Toni Kroos before adding a second four minutes prior to half-time when finishing from close range after Simon Mignolet had kept out Pepe’s initial effort.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Blancos were in cruise control in the second half and in the end, their first 45 minutes were enough to keep their 100% record this season in Europe alive.
In Group B’s other match-up, Bulgarian minnows Ludogorets Razgrad scored their first win of the campaign thanks to an injury-time goal from Yordan Minev to produce a 1-0 result over ten-man FC Basel.
In Group D, Arsenal scored two goals in two minutes at the death to get out of jail against Anderlecht in their 2-1 win in Belgium.
Promising Honduran talent Andy Najar had put Anderlecht ahead with just under 20 minutes remaining before Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolskistruck in the 89th and 91st minutes to give the Gunners a vital victory which has them second on the table.
Three points ahead of the north Londoners is Borussia Dortmund who easily beat Galatasaray 4-0 in Istanbul courtesy of a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace to continue their stellar European form which has seen them score nine goals and concede zero in three outings.
Group A saw Atletico Madrid demolish Swedish side Malmo 5-0 to join Olympiakos on six points following their shock 1-0 result over Italian champions Juventus.
And in Group C, Bayer Leverkusen got the better of Zenit Saint Petersburg 2-0 despite being reduced to ten men with ten minutes left while Benfica forced a 0-0 draw at Monaco even though they received a late red card.