Date:28/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/28/stories/2008112860841900.htm

Sport - Football

Liverpool, Inter, Atletico advance

Chelsea still has work to do in its last round

LONDON: Five-time winner Liverpool, Italian champion Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid joined 10 other qualifiers for the knockout phase of the Champions League football on Wednesday but Chelsea still has work to do in the final round of games.

Steven Gerrard headed in Liverpool’s winner in a 1-0 victory over Marseille and Atletico Madrid edged PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the other Group ‘D’ game.

Liverpool had to withstand strong Marseille pressure in the second half at Anfield but held on to record home and away victories over the French team.

Nervy match

“It was a nervy match but still a job well done,” said Gerrard, who was hit by an object from the Marseille fans while taking a corner at the end of the first half. Simao Sabrosa and Maxi Rodriguez scored in the first 28 minutes for Atletico in a game played behind closed doors because of crowd violence when the Spanish team played Marseille on October 1.

Inter was beaten 1-0 at home by Panathinaikos but still qualified despite winning only one of its three home games. Its two nearest rivals, Panathinaikos and Anorthosis Famagusta, face each other on December 9 and only one of the teams can finish above the Serie A leader.

Chelsea appeared on course to join the other three qualifiers after Nicolas Anelka fired the Blues ahead at Bordeaux. But Alou Diarra turned home a corner to equalise in the 83rd and Chelsea’s Frank Lampard was sent off near the end for two yellow cards.

Roma on top

AS Roma went top of Group ‘A’ after winning 3-1 at CFR Cluj helped by two goals by Matteo Brighi. The Italian team has nine points, Chelsea eight and Bordeaux seven going into the final round of games.

Barcelona overpowered Sporting Clube de Portugal 5-2 in a meeting of two clubs who had already qualified. Shakhtar Donetsk beat FC Basel 5-0 helped by a hat-trick by Jadson, giving the two Group ‘C’ games a combined 12 goals.

The results:

Group ‘A’: CFR Cluj 1 (Yssouf Kone 30) lost to AS Roma 3 (Matteo Brighi 11, 64, Francesco Totti 23); Girondins Bordeaux 1 (A. Diarra 83) drew with Chelsea 1 (Nicolas Anelka 60). Group ‘B’: Anorthosis Famagusta 2 (Nikos Nikolaou 62, Savio 68) drew with Werder Bremen 2 (Diego 72-pen, Hugo Almeida 87); Inter Milan 0 lost to Panathinaikos 1 (Jose Sarriegi 69). Group ‘C’: Sporting 2 (Miguel Veloso 65, Liedson 66) lost to Barcelona 5 (Thierry Henry 14, Gerard Pique 17, Lionel Messi 50, Marco Caneira 67-og, Bojan Krkic 73-pen); Shakhtar Donetsk 5 (Jadson 32, 65, 72, Willian 50, Yevgen Seleznov 75) bt Basel 0. Group ‘D’: Liverpool 1 (Steven Gerrard 23) bt Olympique Marseille 0; Atletico Madrid 2 (S. Sabrosa 14, Maxi Rodriguez) 28 bt PSV Eindhoven 1 (D. Koervermans 47). — Agencies