UEFA Champioins Leageu : Manchester United Survive Braga Scare as Chelsea Fall to Shakhtar

Celtic's Kenyan international Victor Wanyama Mugubi in action against Barca

Javier Chicharito Hernandez scored a brace either side of Jonny Evans’ 62^nd minute goal to help Manchester United rally from two goals down and eventually see off Sporting Braga 3-2 in a UEFA Champions League Group H encounter at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Fergusson’s men were trailing 2-0 with only 20 minutes into play after Braga forward Alan had given the visitors a dream start. But Chicharito inspired United to yet another comeback when he nodded home his and United’s first in the 25^th minute before nicking in the winner in the 75^th minute after Jonny Evans had drawn the Red devils even. The win stretched the Old Trafford outfit’s lead in Group H to five points after CFR Cluj and Galatasaray could only muster a 1-1 draw with Burak Yilmaz cancelling out

Chelsea, the other English side playing on the night away to Shakhtar Donetsk however could not replicate United’s fight back. The defending champions fell behind to an Alex Teixeira 3^rd minute goal and Fernandinho added the second in the 52^nd minute to put the home team in control. Oscar pulled one back for the visitors with two minutes to the final whistle but it was a case of too little too late for Di Matteo’s men. The win took the Ukrainian champions to the summit of Group E, 3 points above Chelsea in second place.

Juventus spanned a chance to leapfrog Chelsea into second spot when they could only manage a 1-1 draw away to FC Nordsjaelland. Mikkel Beckmann put the Danes ahead in the 50^th minute but Mirko Vucinic’s 81^st minute strike for the Bianconeri ensured the spoils were shared in Kobenhavn.

Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona maintained their 100% win record with a labored 2-1 win over Celtic at Camp Nou. The home team fell behind to a Javier Mascherano own goal in the 18^th minute but Andres Iniesta drew level  at the stroke of half-time.

Barca tormented the Hoops’ defence in the second half but were kept at bay by custodian Fraser Forster. But their resistance was finally broken in the last minute of added time with Jordi Alba connecting to Adriano’s cross to give the Catalans a 2-1 win. Spartak beat Benfica 2-1 to register their first points in the competition and move third.

Bundesliga table-toppers Bayern Munich rebounded from their shock loss to BATE Borisov a fortnight ago with a 1-0 win over Lille. Thomas Muller’s 20^th minute penalty was enough for the Bavarians to nick the win. Valencia stormed to the top of the group with a comfortable 3-0 demolition of BATE with Roberto Soldado hitting a hat-trick. The Spanish side, Bayern and BATE are all locked up top on 6 points each while Lille are yet to register a point. 

Wednesday Fixtures

Zenit v Anderlecht
Dinamo Zagreb v Paris St. Germain
Porto v Dynamo Kiev
Arsenal v Schalke
Montpellier v Olympiakos
Malaga v AC Milan
Ajax v Manchester City
Dortmund v Real Madrid       

And That's thesteifmastertake!!