Borussia Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan (right) scores a goal against Arsenal during their Champions League match at the Emirates Stadium in London, yesterday. .
LONDON: Robert Lewandowski’s late volleyed winner threw Champions League Group F wide open as Borussia Dortmund heaped more German misery on Arsenal with a 2-1 victory at Emirates Stadium yesterday.
The match appeared to be petering out into a draw when the unmarked Pole was picked out at the far post by Kevin Grosskreutz in the 82nd minute and he smashed the ball past his countryman Wojiech Szczesny to seal the three points.
Arsenal, Dortmund and Napoli, who beat Olympique Marseille 2-1 away, all have six points from three matches.
Dortmund punished a slow start from the home side to take the lead through Henrikh Mkhitaryan after 16 minutes but Arsenal hit back before halftime through Olivier Giroud.
A Lionel Messi strike saw Barcelona maintain their two point lead at the top of Group H after drawing 1-1 at AC Milan.
The Argentine struck in the 23rd minute with a fine finish to a breakaway move to cancel out Robinho’s stylish ninth minute opener, which came during a frantic opening period of pressure from the home side.
Barcelona moved up to seven points, with unbeaten Milan in second spot on five, two ahead of Celtic who beat Ajax 2-1 in Glasgow.
Milan came racing out of the blocks, putting pressure on Barca’s backline and a defensive error led to Robinho’s goal.
The Brazilian beat the away side’s dithering defenders to a high ball, and after exchanging passes with countryman Kaka, slid a simple finish past Victor Valdes.
The home side rarely looked troubled in the opening period, but found themselves back to square one 14 minutes later after giving the ball away sloppily to Andres Iniesta.
The Spain midfielder slipped in Messi on the right, who after cutting inside drilled low to level the scores just as he looked to have lost his footing.
Barca dominated the second half against a tired Milan, but despite a couple of good chances couldn’t make the most of their possession and had to settle for a point.
Elsewhere, Fernando Torres scored twice and Eden Hazard added a late goal as Chelsea outclassed Schalke 04 3-0 to go top of Group E. Torres, making his 100th start for the London club in all competitions, produced a flying header at the far post after Branislav Ivanovic had flicked on a Frank Lampard corner in the fifth minute.
The Spain international, back in the starting lineup following a knee injury earlier this month, struck again in the 69th minute when he raced clear to beat keeper Timo Hildebrand. Hazard made it 3-0 as Chelsea, took their points tally to six. AGENCIES
