Arsenal sank at the Emirates against Olympiakos, just as AS Roma in Weißrussland, where BATE Borisov surprisingly won.
The Gunners had a strange week and a half leading to this game: First the London Derby against Chelsea, which turned to the advantage of the Blues. The game was not so good and made even worse by Diego Costa, provoking Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista so much that he'll be given a red card just before half-time. Chelsea won 2-0, and another Arsenal player, Santi Cazorla has been sent off for a second bookable offense. Diego Costa received a only yellow during the altercation with Gabriel.The FA has now overturned the decision, Gabriel Paulista is not suspended for any match, whereas Diego Costa has been banned for the three next games of the Premier League.
Arsenal then had another London Derby, but in the Capital One Cup: they travelled to White Hart Lane, and finally disposed of the Spurs thanks to Mathieu Flamini. Then over the week-end, they travelled to Leicester to meet with the only unbeaten team in the Premier League. And the Gunners won 5-2, with a hat-trick from Alexis Sánchez. So one could say that the psychological shock of having two people sent off in the same game has been overcome. One apparently was wrong. It was Olympiakos to open the scoresheet. Theo Walcott equalised in less than two minutes, but Ospina made a big mistake on the second goal of the Greeks, letting the ball bounce at his feet, just over the goal line. The assistant referee correctly gave the goal, and it was 1-2 at half time. The goal is actually even registered as an own-goal from David Ospina.
Arsenal continued to push and push. Mertesacker almost had a birthday goal, but the Greek keeper did his job. Then, a cross from Walcott found Alexis Sánchez alone at the peanlty spot, the header is perfect, and the ball is in. Only about a minute later, Esteban Cambiasso crossed the ball in the box, and Finnbogason was here to just tap the ball home. 2-3, final score. A night to forget.
The Roma travelled to Borisov with the best of intentions, but they too have some problems in the Italian Serie A. The first goal of Borisov came after an error from Kostas Manolas, and two goals followed. The score at half-time was 3-0. Wojciech Szczęsny, the goalkeeper, didn't look good on the goals. After the break, Gervinho, another former Arsenal player scored the first goal of the game and intelligently let the cross of Lucas Digne pass for his co-striker for the 3-2. Unfortunately, Florenzi, who scored amazingly on the first match day, only found the crossbar at the end, not managing to salvage a point.
A word on the Roma Cup shirt ? The grey does look good !
Another team unveiling their "third" shirt was Bayer Leverkusen. While the plain white shirt looked good, the designers had to add the colours of the club (black and red) somewhere, so they put them on the flanks, under the arms... and it doesn't look good. Plain white would have been much better, in my humble opinion.
Maybe it was the surprise effect, but Bayer Leverkusen did not play with fear, and they actually shocked Barcelona. Chicharito hit the post in the opening minutes, and a few moments later, it was Kyriakos Papadopoulos who scored after a corner from Hakan Çalhanoğlu. The header of the defender was just in front of Marc-André ter Stegen, who couldn't do anything. Luis Suárez complained to his keeper, but he was the one who didn't cover Papadopoulos correctly. Karim Bellarabi almost scored a second goal, but ter Stegen found his saving reflexes back.
Without Messi, missing for a few weeks/months, it was hard for Barcelona to do something. Neymar hit the post just at the end of the first half, and Papadopoulos saved the rebound from Sandro. Half time : 0-1 in Camp Nou.
Maybe it was the surprise effect, but Bayer Leverkusen did not play with fear, and they actually shocked Barcelona. Chicharito hit the post in the opening minutes, and a few moments later, it was Kyriakos Papadopoulos who scored after a corner from Hakan Çalhanoğlu. The header of the defender was just in front of Marc-André ter Stegen, who couldn't do anything. Luis Suárez complained to his keeper, but he was the one who didn't cover Papadopoulos correctly. Karim Bellarabi almost scored a second goal, but ter Stegen found his saving reflexes back.
Without Messi, missing for a few weeks/months, it was hard for Barcelona to do something. Neymar hit the post just at the end of the first half, and Papadopoulos saved the rebound from Sandro. Half time : 0-1 in Camp Nou.
Chicharito missed a BIG occasion at the beginning of the second half: Ballarabi's flank was perfect, Chicharito completely alone on the penalty spot. He could have done better, he should have done better, but his volley unfortunately went well over the bar. The Rugby World Cup is on in England, and a drop-goal is worth 3 points, but that's another sport altogether.
Then Barcelona shifted into second gear, and they were the only one on the field: Sergi Roberto scored for the 1-1 10 minutes before the final whistle, concluding an action by the three substitutes (Jordi Alba, Munir el Haddadi and Sergi Roberto). Perfect coaching from Luis Enrique. Munir didn't disappoint, dribbling on the right side of the pitch, finally giving the ball to Suárez, who shot from the entreance of the box in the top corner of the goal. Bernd Leno was helpless, the shot was perfect.
Barça won at home, but Leverkusen deserved better.
The other German team of the evening is on a run: Bayern München, 7 games, 7 wins, 23 goals scored (that's more than three per game). And their striker Robert Lewandowski is worth his weight in gold at the moment: he scored 5 goals under 10 minutes against Wolfsburg. That was the fastest hat-trick of the German Bundesliga, the fastest 5 goals from a player in any European league since records are being kept... and the icing on the cake : he came on as a substitue. Last week-end, he scored twice against Mainz, scoring his 100th goal in the Bundesliga in only 168 appearances.
What can Lewandowski do as a starting player ? We saw, and it was amazing.
Before the score was open, there was a litigious action, with one Zagreb player touching the ball with his hand in the box. the ref didn't see it, but the assistant was only a few meters from the action, and he should have seen it. No penalty given.
Douglas Costa scored the first goal with a cheeky shot just at the near post. Goalkeeper Eduardo helpless. Then Robert Lewandowski scored, greatly served by Thiago Alcántara. Benković, the defender of Zagreb tried to clear the ball with a header, missed it and then slipped to the ground. Thiago was alone, and gave a perfect ball at the penalty spot for Lewandowski. Götze scored a goal after a nice play with Frenchman Kingsley Coman, and another big mistake from Portuguese keeper Eduardo. At the 28th minute, a corner kick from Douglas Costa, a volley from Lewandowski. The ball hits the bar, then the ground, Lewandowski screams for goal, a few seconds of uncertainty... And the goal is given. This time, the assistant referee did his job and told the main refereree that the ball crossed the line. Bayern 4-0 Zagreb.
After the break, Lewandowski will score a third for his personal hat-trick... and what an action that was. Douglas Costa with the back heel to Thiago Alcántara, back to the goal. Thiago turns, gives the ball to Lewandowski, just at the entrance of the penalty area, also his back to the net. Another turn, Eduardo is almost at his feet as well as another Zagreb player, he just softly lifted the ball above of the keeper... 5-0. Over and out.
Chelsea, the only English club to have won their opening game in the Champions League, travels to Porto. Mourinho "coming home", and also seeing Iker Casillas for the first time since they left Madrid. Mourinho was the one pushing Casillas to the bench. No friendship between this two people anymore. Chelsea is in crisis, pointing at the 14th place in the Premier League... for a reigning Champion, that is bad.
Casillas showed he still is one of the great keeper, saving an effort from Pedro Rodriguez. 5 minutes before half-time, Brahimi with a shot saved by Asmir Begović, but André André can score on the rebound. Just before half-time, Willian scores a nice free kick. Almost all players are in the wall, so that it was extremely hard for Iker Casillas to see anything: No reaction from the keeper as the ball hits the back of the net.
Casillas showed he still is one of the great keeper, saving an effort from Pedro Rodriguez. 5 minutes before half-time, Brahimi with a shot saved by Asmir Begović, but André André can score on the rebound. Just before half-time, Willian scores a nice free kick. Almost all players are in the wall, so that it was extremely hard for Iker Casillas to see anything: No reaction from the keeper as the ball hits the back of the net.
Back for the second half, Maicon heads the ball to goal after a corner kick. Begović is helpless. There was nobody covering the near post: first error. Ramires let Maicon go in front of him: second error. and the result is a goal.
Diego Costa hits the bar for Chelsea, Danilo the post for Porto, and a penalty kick should have been awarded to Chelsea in the end. Costa shouted and shouted, the referee didn't listen. Chelsea in crisis, also in the Champions League.
Diego Costa hits the bar for Chelsea, Danilo the post for Porto, and a penalty kick should have been awarded to Chelsea in the end. Costa shouted and shouted, the referee didn't listen. Chelsea in crisis, also in the Champions League.
Zenit St. Petersburg won 2-1 against KAA Gent, Hulk being twice the provider of the goals.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv received Dynamo Kyiv for the first Champions League game on Israeli soil for 11 years. Unfortunately, Yarmolenko scored after only 4 minutes. 5 minutes into the second half, Junior Morales scored the second goal for the Ukrainian side. Kyiv takes over the top spot in their group.
Olympique Lyonnais received FC Valencia, and Sofiane Feghouli scored the only goal on the 42nd minute. A lots of balls hit the post or the bar on both sides, and Jaume Domenech, the goalkeeper stopped the other balls.
Nicest goal of the evening: For me, the third of Lewandowski is something special. Willian's free kick is nicely done, and Papadopoulos' header for the third spot on the podium.
