Sport - Football

Messi’s late goals rescue Barcelona

— Photo: AFP

VINTAGE STUFF: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi came off the bench to score twice in injury time to clinch victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.

London: Lionel Messi scored two late goals to give FC Barcelona a 2-1 victory at Shakhtar Donestsk and AS Roma also avoided a shock defeat in the Champions League by rallying to win 3-1 at Bordeaux.

Things were more straightforward for Liverpool, which defeated PSV Eindhoven 3-1, and Atletico Madrid, which beat Marseille 2-1.

But Chelsea drew 0-0 at unheralded CFR Cluj in another of Wednesday’s eight group matches.

Shakhtar looked set to embarrass two-time European champion Barcelona when Ilsinho scored in the 45th minute, but Messi struck in the 87th and then deep into injury time to take his team clear at the top of the Group C standings.

Roma had trailed to an 18th-minute goal by midfielder Yoann Gourcuff, who is on loan from Roma’s Italian rival AC Milan. But the French team had to play with 10 men after Brazilian defender Henrique was sent off in the 36th, and conceded in the second half to Mirko Vucinic and twice to Julio Baptista.

Elsewhere, Werder Bremen drew 1-1 at Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon beat FC Basel 1-0, and Anorthosis Famagusta beat Panathinaikos 3-1.

Barcelona had beaten Sporting 3-1 in its opening match two weeks ago but struggled to break down a stubborn home defence in Ukraine.

Shakhtar had already troubled Barcelona, which won the last of its two European titles in 2006, when visiting defender Gerard Pique struggled to control a long up-field pass. Pique glanced the ball to Ilsinho, who held off a challenge by Carles Puyol and flicked it past goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

Barca laboured until Messi took over with three minutes of regular time left. The Argentina forward made it 1-1 when goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov failed to deal with a right-wing cross and then won the match with a finely judged chip.

Messi’s late show moved Barcelona to six points, three more than Shakhtar and Sporting Lisbon, which beat Basel through second-half goals by Leandro Romagnoli and Derlei.

Roma trailed early in France when Gourcuff twisted past his marker on the edge of the penalty area and hit a low, swerving shot past goalkeeper Alexander Doni and into the bottom left corner.

But Roma took over in the second half and exposed goalkeeper Mathieu Valverde’s lack of experience.

Valverde, who had played just eight league games in five years, came to collect Daniele De Rossi’s 64th-minute corner and missed the ball, allowing Vucinic a free header into the top corner. He then stood rooted to the spot as Baptista’s free-kick flew into the net in the 71st.

Substitute Baptista then made it 3-1 in the 83rd as Roma moved to within a point of Chelsea and Cluj in Group A. Chelsea and Cluj, which just six years ago was in the third tier of Romanian football, each have four points.

Chelsea, which is tied with Liverpool atop the English Premier League, dropped two points in Romania and had striker Didier Drogba carried off with serious ankle ligament damage.

Drogba twisted awkwardly midway through the second half while trying to get to a cross from Florent Malouda.

“I think we didn’t play well, but one point is better than zero points,” Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said.

Sergio Aguero put Atletico ahead in the fourth minute with a right-footed shot and, although Mamadou Niang equalised 12 minutes later, Raul Garcia restored the home side’s lead in the 22nd to secure a second straight Champions League win.

The Spanish side will meet Group D co-leader Liverpool next in Madrid, where it will come up against its former star striker Fernando Torres. Torres set up two first-half goals as five-time European champion Liverpool kept alive its strong start to the season.

The Reds went ahead in the fourth minute after PSV goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson stopped Torres’ close-range effort but could only deflect Dirk Kuyt’s rebound shot into the top corner. Ireland captain Robbie Keane made it 2-0 30 minutes later, flicking Torres’ right-wing cross past Isaksson for his first goal for the club.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and PSV’s Danny Koevermans each scored in the second half, leaving the impression that the English side is likely to contest the top spot in the group with Atletico.

Inter was seemingly spurred by its first loss of the season in Sunday’s derby against rival AC Milan and dominated Werder Bremen without converting its play into goals.

Maicon gave Inter the lead with a close-range goal in the 13th after gathering a loose ball in the area. Claudio Pizarro equalised in the 62nd, tapping in a cross that caught Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar out of position.

Inter’s slip-up meant that Anorthosis moved level with the Italian side with four points in Group B after beating visiting Greek side Panathinaikos.

The results:

Group A: At Bordeaux: Bordeaux 1 (Gourcuff 18) lost to Roma 3 (Vucinic 64, Julio Baptista 71, 83). At Cluj: CFR Cluj 0 drew with Chelsea 0.

Group B: At Famagusta: Anorthosis Famagusta 3 (Sarriegi 11-og, Dobrasinovic 15, Taher 78) bt Panathinaikos 1 (Salpingidis 28-pen). At Milan: Inter Milan 1 (Maicon 13) drew with Werder Bremen 1 (Pizarro 62).

Group C: At Donetsk: Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Ilsinho 45) lost to Barcelona 2 (Messi 87, 94). At Lisbon: Sporting Lisbon 2 (Romagnoli 55, Derlei 86) bt Basel 0.

Group D: At Madrid: Atletico Madrid 2 (Aguero 4, Raul Garcia 22) bt Marseille 1 (Niang 16). At Liverpool: Liverpool 3 (Kuyt 4, Keane 34, Gerrard 76) bt PSV Eindhoven 1 (Koevermans 78). — Agencies

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