Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Champions League as it happened last night


Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the Champions League as Monaco qualified from Group E with a 2-1 win at the Stade Louis II.
Spurs could have taken the lead after only seven minutes when Son Heung-Min evaded the offside trap but was denied by keeper Danijel Subasic, and within moments they were grateful to Hugo Lloris as he saved a Radamel Falcao penalty after Eric Dier had fouled Fabinho.
Monaco broke through in style just three minutes into the second half as Djibril Sidibe powered home a header, only for the Londoners to respond moments later when Dele Alli was fouled by Kamil Glik in the area.
Harry Kane smashed home the equaliser from the spot despite Subasic getting a touch, but within seconds the home side regained their lead as Djibril Sidibe played the ball across the area and Thomas Lemar found space to steer a low finish past Lloris.
Real Madrid won 2-1 at Sporting Lisbon to seal qualification from Group F thanks to a late Karim Benzema goal.
The Spanish side took the lead when Raphael Varane fired home after the Sporting defence had failed to deal with a free kick and Cristiano Ronaldo's deflected effort fell to him.
The home side were down to 10 men when defender Joao Pereira was shown a straight red card for a foul but levelled when Adrien Silva struck from the penalty spot with 10 minutes remaining after Fabio Coentrao was adjudged to have handled.
Benzema had the last word with time running out, heading home powerfully to wrap up the victory.
Borussia Dortmund and Legia Warsaw scored 12 goals between them to set a new Champions League record as the Bundesliga side won 8-4 in an astonishing game at the Westfalenstadion.
The visitors went in front when Aleksandar Prijovic produced an outstanding finish, but Shinji Kagawa quickly nodded an equaliser and then found space to fire the home team 2-1 in front.
It was 3-1 after only 20 minutes when goalkeeper Radoslaw Cierzniak punched a free kick straight at Nuri Sahin and saw the ball ricochet into the net, but the unmarked Prijovic restored hope with a low finish.
With half an hour gone, Dortmund regained their two-goal advantage when Ousmane Dembele struck, and moments later it was 5-2 when Marco Reus tapped home at the end of another slick attack.
The goals continued to flow after the break as Reus made it 6-2, Michal Kucharczyk made it 6-3, Felix Passlack struck again for the home side and then Nemanja Nikolic got the visitors' fourth. Reus completed his hat trick to provide the final flourish.
Leicester City sealed their place in the round of 16 and won Group G thanks to a 2-1 home victory over Club Brugge.
The Foxes went in front after five minutes with a superb goal made by Jamie Vardy and Christian Fuchs, who combined down the left for the latter to cross for Shinji Okazaki to produce a brilliant volleyed finish into the roof of the net.
They made it 2-0 before the break when Albrighton was tripped in the area and Riyad Mahrez fired home from the spot, but a superb solo goal by Jose Izquierdo halved the deficit early in the second half as he powered a finish past Ron-Robert Zieler.
Juventus came from a goal down to win 3-1 at Sevilla as they moved top of Group H and confirmed their place in the knockout stages.
Sevilla took an early lead, striking with nine minutes on the clock when defender Nicolas Pareja fired home a low volley from the edge of the area.
Juan Cuadrado saw his shot from an angle pushed away as Juventus tried to respond, with the Serie A champions struggling to create good chances against high-pressing opponents denying them time and space.
But Franco Vazquez was sent off after collecting two bookings before the break and Juventus then equalised from the penalty spot through Claudio Marchisio, whose effort went in despite goalkeeper Sergio Rico getting a hand to it.
With six minutes remaining Leonardo Bonucci put the visitors into the lead, and Mario Mandzukic sealed the victory when he fired home in stoppage time.
Lyon won 1-0 at Dinamo Zagreb after a game in which they had enjoyed the lion's share of chances.
The visitors dominated possession and threatened an early goal when Jordan Ferri's deflected effort came back off the crossbar and Mathieu Valbuena came close to breaking the deadlock shortly before half-time when his curling effort was well saved by Dominik Livakovic.
Zagreb hit back and were close to a leveller when Amer Gojak flicked a header wide of the target, but Lyon got the goal they deserved when Alexandre Lacazette found himself alone at the far post to tap home.
Porto missed the chance to get the win that would have confirmed their qualification when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Copenhagen in Group G.
The home side had the better of a goalless first period as their visitors lacked attacking ideas but were unable to take their opportunities, with Erik Johansson failing to convert two headed chances.
Andre Silva had a chance for Porto but, after cutting inside a defender, fired his effort wide, and the same player came close in the early stages of the second half when his shot after a goalmouth scramble was well saved by Robin Olsen as the visitors upped the tempo.
Bayer Leverkusen are through to the knockout stages after a 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow in Group E.
Kevin Volland gave Leverkusen the lead in the 17th minute from close range after he was left unmarked at a free kick.
Leverkusen gave away a needless penalty when Benjamin Henrichs made a clumsy challenge on Mario Fernandes, but Bibras Natcho's 76th-minute goal wasn't enough to keep the fourth-placed Russian team's hopes of qualifying alive.

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