Zenit perfect, Barcelona win, Arsenal beat Bayern
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Article summary
Zenit kept up their perfect record, Barcelona also opened up a big group lead, Arsenal defeated Bayern München, and there was a record-equalling 4-4 draw in Leverkusen.
Article top media content
Article body
- Zenit keep up perfect Group H start as they beat Lyon and Valencia also win
- Barcelona in control of Group E with victory at BATE while Roma draw 4-4 at Leverkusen
- Arsenal end Bayern's 100% start with 2-0 success, Olympiacos joint top of Group F
- Porto, with youngest competition captain, beat Maccabi as Dynamo, Chelsea draw
- Vote for your Player of the Week from 09.00CET on Thursday
- Groups E–H continue on 4 November, Groups A–D resume on Wednesday
Follow the links for video highlights (from 24.00CET on Tuesday until 24.00CET on Wednesday), match reports and reaction.
Group E
BATE Borisov 0-2 Barcelona
Two second-half goals from Ivan Rakitić ensured Barcelona opened up a three-point cushion in the group as BATE remain in third thanks to Roma's draw.
Bayer Leverkusen 4-4 Roma
It was the equal highest-scoring draw in UEFA Champions League history as both teams lost two-goal leads. Javier Hernández had put Leverkusen 2-0 up within 19 minutes only for Daniele De Rossi, on his 501st Roma appearance, to level before half-time. Miralem Pjanić and Iago Falqué seemed to have won it for the visitors but in the last seven minutes Kevin Kampl and Admir Mehmedi had other ideas to keep Leverkusen in second.
Group F
Arsenal 2-0 Bayern München
Bayern's perfect start was ended, but not for want of trying after Manuel Neuer's stunning first-half save from Theo Walcott. In the last 14 minutes substitute Olivier Giroud and Mesut Özil got Arsenal off the mark.
Dinamo Zagreb 0-1 Olympiacos
Olympiacos moved alongside Bayern on six points, three ahead of Dinamo and Arsenal, courtesy of Ideye Brown's goal with 11 minutes to go. It gave the Greek champions, who had lost all three road trips last term, a second straight away win in the group.
Group G
Porto 2-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Porto were captained by Rúben Neves, at 18 nearly two years younger than any previous UEFA Champions League skipper, and his team triumphed through goals late in the first half from Vincent Aboubakar and Yacine Brahimi.
Dynamo Kyiv 0-0 Chelsea
Dynamo dropped two points behind Porto, yet remain one clear of Chelsea, after a match that had chances at both ends, but no goals.
Group H
Zenit 3-1 Lyon
It is three victories out of three for Zenit, who had never previously won even their opening two group games. They had the perfect start on three minutes through Artem Dzyuba. Although an incredible 49th-minute flick from Alexandre Lacazette levelled matters, Hulk's equally fine effort and Danny ensured Zenit stayed three points above Valencia.
Valencia 2-1 Gent
Valencia are five points ahead of Lyon and Gent but Gent pushed them all the way. Sofiane Feghouli's touch was turned into the visitors' net by Lasse Nielsen on 15 minutes but before half-time a superb shot by Thomas Foket made it 1-1. However, with 18 minutes left, José Gayà's cross-shot deflected in off Stefan Mitrović.