Arsenal tonight missed their chance to progress to the next round of the Champions League after surrendering a three-goal lead against Anderlecht at the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta put the hosts in front from the penalty spot midway through the first half when Danny Welbeck was fouled in the box and that was perfectly complimented minutes later when Alexis Sanchez fired in a beautiful volley after his initial attempt from a dead-ball ricocheted off the wall.
It wasn’t merely a matter of an inspired half-time team-talk for the Belgian side; however, as Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain extended Arsenal’s lead early the second half to all but ensure victory. Anderlecht didn’t read the script, though, and an Anthony Vanden Borre brace epitomised a dominant spell for his side which was capped by a diving header from Mitrovic in the 90th minute to seal a point for the visitors.
Frustratingly for Arsenal fans, Borussia Dortmund held up their end of the bargain and easily beat Galatasaray which means that an Arsenal win this evening would have led to a last-16 berth with two games remaining.
Liverpool were the other Premier League side in action today and things went as we expected at the Bernabeu as Real Madrid put in a dominant performance despite the less-than-flattering full-time score of 1-0.
It was Karim Benzema who netted the crucial goal as the Frenchman got on the end of a delightful Marcelo cross to finish nicely past Mignolet. The likes of Ronaldo, James, Isco and Bale all caused problems for Brendan Rogers’ side throughout the evening and Madrid, in reality, should have won by more.
Liverpool now need back-to-back wins in their last two group matches to keep their last-16 hopes alive. The crunch game will be against Basel who put in a hugely dominant performance at home this evening, sweeping aside Ludogorets 4-0.
Elsewhere this evening, there were wins for Juventus and Atletico Madrid against Olympiakos and Malmo respectively while Benefica needed just one goal to grab three points against Monaco while Leverkusen went to Russia and got all three points against Zenit.
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