The Hindu : Sport / Football : Barca, Roma, Inter and Sevilla advance

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Thursday, Nov 29, 2007
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Barca, Roma, Inter and Sevilla advance

Cristiano Ronaldo scores a beauty in Man United’s 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon

— AP Photo

SEALING IT: Anderson and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate the latter’s goal, which put Manchester United on top of Group F.

LONDON: Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, AS Roma and Sevilla all advanced to the second round of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Inter, Sevilla and Roma advanced with wins while a point against Lyon was enough for Barcelona.

The four teams join Arsenal and Manchester United in the next round. United is the only team in the group stage to have a perfect record. Cristiano Ronaldo made sure of that by scoring against former club Sporting Lisbon in a 2-1 win.

Arsenal lost for the first time this season when it fell 3-1 at Sevilla, which is making its Champions League debut after winning back-to-back UEFA Cups.

“It was a magnificent performance by the team,” Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez said. “To come back from a goal down against a team that’s top of the Premier League is something important, and I hope we can continue to show the same type of attitude.”

Brace by Juninho

Juninho scored two goals, including a 79th-minute penalty, to help French champion Lyon get the 2-2 draw against Barcelona.

Andres Iniesta gave the 2006 champion the lead in the third minute, taking a cross from Bojan Krkic, but Juninho levelled for Lyon in the seventh with a free kick.

Lionel Messi then put Barcelona back in front with a 58th-minute penalty kick.

Lyon and Rangers will fight to join Barcelona from Group E after the Scottish club lost to Stuttgart 3-2.

Stuttgart earned its first points of the group stage, with Ciprian Marica scoring the winning goal in the 85th minute, flicking in a cross from Ludovic Magnin. Charles Adam, who had come on for the injured Lee McCulloch only a minute earlier, scored in the 27th after a corner by DaMarcus Beasley was headed down by Carlos Cuellar.

Stuttgart levelled in first-half injury time through Cacau, and Pavel Pardo put the hosts ahead in the 62nd. Eight minutes later, Rangers captain Barry Ferguson capitalized on a defensive error to make it 2-2.

Inter Milan beat Fenerbahce 3-0 off goals from Julio Ricardo Cruz, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Jimenez and clinched first place in Group G.

Cruz directed the ball into the net in the 56th minute after Maxwell’s cross ricocheted off a Fenerbahce defender. Ibrahimovic made it 2-0 in the 66th, and Jimenez added the third in the 90th.

Fabulous goal

United earned first place in the group after Ronaldo scored with a free kick in injury time.

“It was a fabulous goal, I think,” Ronaldo said. “I’m very happy, not just because I scored but because of the win.”

Carlos Tevez also scored for United, sidefooting in a pass from Ronaldo in the 62nd minute. Sporting Lisbon striker Fernando Abel scored against the run of play in the 22nd minute with a low, long-range goal from outside the box.

The results: Group E: Stuttgart 3 (Cacau 45+2, Pavel Pardo 62, Ciprian Marica 85) bt Rangers 2 (Charlie Adam 27, Barry Ferguson 70); Lyon 2 (Juninho 7, 80 pen) drew with Barcelona 2 (Andres Iniesta 3, Lionel Messi 58 pen).

Group F: Dynamo Kiev 1 (Ismael Bangoura 64) lost to AS Roma 4 (Christian Panucci 4, Ludovic Giuly 33, Mirko Vucinic 36, 78); Manchester United 2 (Carlos Tevez 61, Cristiano Ronaldo 90+2) bt Lisbon Sporting 1 (Abel 21); Group G: CSKA Moskva 0 lost to PSV Eindhoven 1 (Jefferson Farfan 39); Intern Milan 3 (Julio Cruz 55, Zlatan Ibrahimovic 66, Luis Jimenez 90+3) bt Fenerbahçe 0;

Group H: Sevilla 3 (Seydou Keita 24, Luis Fabiano 34, Frederic Kanoute 89 pen) bt Arsenal 1 (Eduardo da Silva 11); Steaua Bucharest 1 (Valentin Badea 11) drew with Slavia Prague 1 (Zdenek Senkerik 79).

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