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UEFA Champions League Matchday 2 Roundup

UEFA Champions League Matchday 2 Roundup

Matchday Two of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage was completed on Wednesday night as the best sides in Europe continued their journey towards being crowned as the ultimate champions on the continent.

While a number of African stars dominated the headlines after the first round of matches by banging in spectacular goals, the second round did not produce the same fireworks.

Moroccan defender Mehdi Benatia played full match for Bayern Munich as they grinded out a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow. Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa and Ivorian Seydou Doumbia were in action for the Russian side as Thomas Mueller’s penalty goal proved to be the decider.

Ivorian stars Yaya Toure and Gervinho were on opposite sides as Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Roma at the Etihad Stadium. Sergio Aguero opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Francesco Totti levelled matters for the Italian side.

Another Ivorian international, Serge Aurier, was an unused substitute for Paris Saint-Germain during Tuesday night’s hard-fought 3-2 win over Barcelona. David Luiz, Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi were on target for Laurent Blanc’s side, while Lionel Messi and Neymar Junior scored for Barcelona.

South African midfielder Thulani Serero was in the starting lineup for Ajax Amsterdam, who played to a 1-1 draw against APOEL, who brought on Algeria’s Rafik Djebbour late in the second half. Gustavo Manduca scored the equalizer from the penalty spot, cancelling Lucas Anderssen’s opener.

Didier Drogba sat out Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Sporting Lisbon due to an ankle injury but John Obi Mikel and Egyptian midfielder Mohammed Salah came on in the second half as the Blues registered their first win. Nemanja Matic scored the only goal late in the first half.

The Cameroon duo of Joel Matip and Eric Choupo-Moting, as well as Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng were in action for Schalke as they came from behind to hold NK Maribor to a 1-1 draw at home. Damjan Bohar fired the visitors ahead just before the break but Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored his second goal in as many group stage matches to earn a point for the German side.

Algeria’s Yacine Brahimi and Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar both started for FC Porto when they fought back to force a 2-2 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukranian side led by two goals with five minutes left on the clock courtesy of strikes from Alex Teixeira and Luiz Adriano, before two late goals from Jackson Martinez earned the visitors a share of the spoils.

Moroccan midfielder Nabil Dirar started the match and Nigeria’s Elderson Echiejile was an unused substitute as Monaco were held to a 0-0 draw by Zenit Saint-Petersburg on Wednesday night.

Cameroon’s Enock Adu played the full match for Malmo FF when they defeated Delvin N’Dinga’s Olympiakos 2-0 with Markus Rosenberg scoring a goal in each half.

Kwadwo Asamoah was left on the bench for Juventus as they suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Atletico Madrid with Arda Turan scoring the only goal for last season’s runners-up.

The Egyptian duo of Ahmed Hamoudi and Mohammed El Nenny were in action for FC Basel alongside Cote D’Ivoire’s Geoffrey Serey Die and Cameroon’s Donald Embolo when they held on for a 1-0 win over Liverpool. Marco Streller scored the only goal early in the second half to hand the Swiss side their first win in the group stage.

Cameroonian defender Aurelien Chedjou was on the losing side as his Galatasaray were hammered 4-1 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Danny Welbeck netted a hat-trick and Alexis Sanchez was also on target for the Gunners, while Burak Yilmaz scored the consolation for the Turkish side from the penalty spot.

Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang provided an assist as Borussia Dortmund trounced Anderlecht 3-0 in Brussels. Congolese defender Chancel Mpemba and Guinea’s Ibrahima Conte started for Anderlecht, while Cameroon’s Frank Acheampong and Cyriac Gohi Bi came on as late substitutes.

In other matches that did not involve African players, BATE Borisov defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1, Real Madrid came back from behind to register a 2-1 win over FC Ludogorets, while Bayer Leverkusen beat Benfica 3-1.

With two rounds of matches now completed, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are the only three sides who are yet to drop points.

Newcomers FC Ludogorets are still searching for their first points, alongside Portuguese giants Benfica and Russian outfit CSKA Moscow.

Group A is currently the tightest of the eight groups with all four teams, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Malmo FF and Olympiakos all tied on three points each.

Algeria and Porto striker Yacine Brahimi is amongst the leading scorers with three goals, which all came during the 6-0 win over BATE Borisov in the first round.

Brahimi now has company in teammate Jackson Martinez, whose double against Shakhtar took him up to three goals, as well as Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck, who netted a treble on Wednesday night.