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| Arsenals Robin van Persie tries to score against CSKA Moscow at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday. The Champions League match ended goalless. (Reuters) |
London: Lyon and Real Madrid made it to the second round of the Champions League with 1-0 wins on Wednesday. Kakas hattrick in a 4-1 win over Anderlecht put AC Milan within a point of the knockout phase.
Lyon edged Dynamo Kiev, and Real Madrid needed an own-goal against visiting Steaua Bucharest for their 1-0 victories in Group E. Lyon and nine-time champion Madrid joined Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven and Valencia in the last 16 with two more games to go.
Karim Benzema scored the winning goal in the 14th minute to keep Lyon in first place in the group, the only team in the competition with the maximum 12 points from four games.
It was not so easy for Madrid, however. Ruud van Nistelrooy missed a penalty, and Steaua provided the only goal in the 70th when a back pass from Benal Nicolita found goalkeeper Cornel Cernea out of position and rolled into the net.
Madrid has nine points, while Steaua has three and Dynamo has none.
Kaka scored Milans first three goals and Alberto Gilardino added the other in the 88th at San Siro. Roland Juhasz scored in the 61st for Anderlecht, which still has a chance to advance.
AEK Athens edged Lille 1-0, with Nikos Lymberopolous scoring in the 74th. Milan now has 10 points, followed by Lille with five, AEK with four and Anderlecht with two.
Manchester United and Arsenal both unexpectedly dropped points and still havent qualified for the second round. United, which won their first three matches, lost 0-1 at FC Copenhagen with Marcus Allback scoring in the 73rd. Celtic was outplayed 0-3 by Benfica the opposite of their meeting in Glasgow two weeks ago.
A 14th-minute own-goal by Gary Caldwell and goals by Nuno Gomes and Andrei Karyaka gave Benfica a comfortable victory. The results mean that both Benfica and Copenhagen are back in contention for places in the next round.
United remains in first place with nine points, while Celtic has six and Benfica and Copenhagen have four each.
Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Tomasz Rosicky all missed close-range chances in Arsenals 0-0 draw against Group G leader CSKA Moscow. The result means three clubs are in contention for the two qualifying spots for the second round.
CSKA still leads the group with eight points, while Arsenal and third-place FC Porto have seven each.
Porto beat last-place Hamburg 3-1 with goals by Lucho Gonzalez, Lisandro Lopez and Buno Moraes. Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart replied for Hamburg, which is in last place with zero points.
(AP)
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