Champions League Round Up: Matchday 2 

Here’s a Round up of all the Champions League matches of Matchday 2 from 1st October, 2014 – 

Group C:

FC Zenit 0-0 AS Monaco FC

FC Zenit held out in the first half and then came close in the second as they drew 0-0 with fellow UEFA Champions League Group C matchday one winners AS Monaco FC.

Monaco, who defeated German side Bayer Leverkusen on matchday one did came close number of times but failed to capitalize. Dimitar Berbatov forced a third-minute save from Yuri Lodygin. Lucas Ocampos headed a João Moutinho free-kick wide, and Monaco were causing threats in all areas. They seemed to be more threatning than the home side but Zenit’s compact and organize defense didn’t left any space for the French side.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-1 SL Benfica

Leverkusen opens their account with an impressive 3-1 victory at home to SL Benfica. Ex German international Stefan Kiessling, Son Heung-Min and Hakan Çalhanoğlu scored for the home side.

Jorge Jesus’s man was not able to break Leverkusen’s defense until Argentine Eduardo Salvio scored past Bernd Leno just after Calhanoglu’s open goal miss for Leverkusen. But Leverkusen quickly restored their two-goal advantage as Kiessling went down in the box under the challenge of Jardel. Çalhanoğlu redeemed himself for his earlier wastefulness with a cool penalty into the corner.

Group D:

Arsenal FC 4-1 Galatasaray 

Danny Welbeck scores his first career hattrick as 10 men Gunners thumped Turkish side Galatasaray 4-1. Arsene Wenger celebrated his 18th year at helm for Arsenal with this vital win.

Arsenal were 3-0 up by half-time with Welbeck striking in the 22nd and 30th minutes before Alexis Sánchez added a third four minutes before the interval. Welbeck completed his hattrick seven minutes after the restart and though Burak Yılmaz pulled one back from the penalty spot for the visitors following Szczesny’s dismissal, the result was already in Arsenal’s favour.

Anderlecht 0-3 Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund showed once again that UEFA Champions League nights bring out the best in them as they set aside their domestic troubles to beat Belgian side Anderlecht 3-0 and move three points clear in Group D.

Ciro Immobile continues his sublime form with a goal just inside 3 minutes. The visitors were quicker of thought and feet, yet were made to wait for the comfort of a second goal, substitute Adrián Ramos ending a brief spell of Anderlecht pressure and then claiming a second for good measure.

Dortmund sits on top of Group D with two perfect wins.

Group A:

Malmö  2-0 Olympiacos 

Club Atlético de Madrid 1-0 Juventus

A solitary goal from Arda Turan helped Club Atlético de Madrid bounce back from their matchday one loss and take three points against Juventus in UEFA Champions League Group A.

This was the first time the Spanish and Italian champions had met in a competitive fixture, but neither team were able to gain the upper hand in a quiet first half. Juventus dominated possession in the early exchanges, winning their physical battles and keeping the ball well without ever really troubling the Atlético back line.