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Trabzonspor stuns Inter while Manchester clubs struggle
Source: Agencies |
September 16, 2011, Friday
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TRABZONSPOR marked its Champions League debut by stunning Inter Milan 1-0 away on Wednesday while English giants Manchester United and Manchester City were held to draws as they failed to transfer their domestic prowess to the European stage.
Czech defender Ondrej Celustka scored the 76th-minute winner at San Siro for Trabzonspor, which only qualified for the competition because Turkish rival Fenerbahce was removed while the club is investigated for match-fixing.
United, last season's runner-up, rallied to draw 1-1 at Benfica thanks to veteran winger Ryan Giggs' stunning equalizer while Aleksandar Kolarov's freekick earned City a 1-1 draw at home to Napoli in its first match at Europe's elite level since 1968.
Elsewhere, nine-time winner Real Madrid opened its group campaign with a 1-0 victory at Dinamo Zagreb despite playing the last 17 minutes a man down after Marcelo's dismissal. German giant Bayern Munich, which has won the competition four times, won 2-0 at Villarreal to take the early lead in Group A, which also contains Napoli and City.
CSKA Moscow rallied from two goals down to draw 2-2 with French champion Lille, while Ajax was held 0-0 by Lyon and Basel beat Romanian debutante Otelul Galati 2-1.
Inter's defeat piles the pressure on under-fire coach Gian Piero Gasperini, whose team was also beaten 4-3 at Palermo in its Serie A opener on Sunday, conceding four goals for the first time in a league match in more than seven years.
"It's difficult, without a doubt," said Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar. "In a moment like this we all have to stay together, work hard and find our way out of this situation."
Best chance
Substitute Coutinho squandered Inter's best chance in the 88th minute, drawing one of a number of saves out of Trabzonspor goalkeeper Tolga Zengin.
In the other match in Group B, Lille powered into a two-goal lead by the 57th minute through striker Moussa Sow and midfielder Benoit Pedretti but was pegged back following a double by Seydou Doumbia, the Ivory Coast forward's second goal coming in the 90th minute.
Fierce rivals United and City have both won their opening four matches of the season in the Premier League, producing some breathtaking football in the process, but they were brought back down to earth in Europe.
Oscar Cardozo's classy 24th-minute goal put Benfica ahead in the Group C match but the 37-year-old Giggs collected Antonio Valencia's pass, cut inside from the right and fired a left-foot drive from the edge of the area into the top corner for United's equalizer.
The visitors had goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard, filling in for the rested David De Gea, to thank for preserving a draw, with the Denmark international denying Nolito and Nicolas Gaitan late on.
Big-spending City's expensively assembled team was given a reality check by Napoli, which marked its first game at Europe's highest level since 1990, by going ahead through Edinson Cavani in the 64th.
Kolarov, who was later substituted after breaking his nose in an aerial collision, whipped home a freekick five minutes later to salvage a point for City, which had earlier hit the woodwork through Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero.
Angel Di Maria was the matchwinner for Real Madrid in the 53rd. Real's left back Marcelo was sent off in the 73rd.
Czech defender Ondrej Celustka scored the 76th-minute winner at San Siro for Trabzonspor, which only qualified for the competition because Turkish rival Fenerbahce was removed while the club is investigated for match-fixing.
United, last season's runner-up, rallied to draw 1-1 at Benfica thanks to veteran winger Ryan Giggs' stunning equalizer while Aleksandar Kolarov's freekick earned City a 1-1 draw at home to Napoli in its first match at Europe's elite level since 1968.
Elsewhere, nine-time winner Real Madrid opened its group campaign with a 1-0 victory at Dinamo Zagreb despite playing the last 17 minutes a man down after Marcelo's dismissal. German giant Bayern Munich, which has won the competition four times, won 2-0 at Villarreal to take the early lead in Group A, which also contains Napoli and City.
CSKA Moscow rallied from two goals down to draw 2-2 with French champion Lille, while Ajax was held 0-0 by Lyon and Basel beat Romanian debutante Otelul Galati 2-1.
Inter's defeat piles the pressure on under-fire coach Gian Piero Gasperini, whose team was also beaten 4-3 at Palermo in its Serie A opener on Sunday, conceding four goals for the first time in a league match in more than seven years.
"It's difficult, without a doubt," said Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar. "In a moment like this we all have to stay together, work hard and find our way out of this situation."
Best chance
Substitute Coutinho squandered Inter's best chance in the 88th minute, drawing one of a number of saves out of Trabzonspor goalkeeper Tolga Zengin.
In the other match in Group B, Lille powered into a two-goal lead by the 57th minute through striker Moussa Sow and midfielder Benoit Pedretti but was pegged back following a double by Seydou Doumbia, the Ivory Coast forward's second goal coming in the 90th minute.
Fierce rivals United and City have both won their opening four matches of the season in the Premier League, producing some breathtaking football in the process, but they were brought back down to earth in Europe.
Oscar Cardozo's classy 24th-minute goal put Benfica ahead in the Group C match but the 37-year-old Giggs collected Antonio Valencia's pass, cut inside from the right and fired a left-foot drive from the edge of the area into the top corner for United's equalizer.
The visitors had goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard, filling in for the rested David De Gea, to thank for preserving a draw, with the Denmark international denying Nolito and Nicolas Gaitan late on.
Big-spending City's expensively assembled team was given a reality check by Napoli, which marked its first game at Europe's highest level since 1990, by going ahead through Edinson Cavani in the 64th.
Kolarov, who was later substituted after breaking his nose in an aerial collision, whipped home a freekick five minutes later to salvage a point for City, which had earlier hit the woodwork through Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero.
Angel Di Maria was the matchwinner for Real Madrid in the 53rd. Real's left back Marcelo was sent off in the 73rd.
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