ARSENAL 2-0 OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE
One name rang the whole Emirates stadium; Jack Wilshere is the name! The diminutive English midfield capon was on fire from the blast of the whistle where he took it upon himself to score the quickest goal of this campaign..
The wonderful strike came just after 29seconds into the game from a beautiful build up, the goal was too magnificent that Thierry Henry gave a standing ovation.. but sorry to bust your bubbles Mr Wilshere, Arsenal have seen a quicker goal than that - it took a certain Gilberto Silva 21 seconds to score against PSV in 2002, a feat that made it to the Guinness book of records of that year.
That goal shattered Marseille's tactics, game plan, self esteem and what have we... The only visitor that refused to be intimidated was the French club's goalie Stephen Mandada who stood his ground to parry a Mesut Ozil penalty... You can stop the German from scoring but nobody can stop him from assisting as he delivered a delightful pass to Wilshere who coolly slotted home to bag his brace.
Arsene Wenger on Jack Wilshere:
"He showed me he can score goals.
"The most important thing in a good football team is that you have many players who can score and many players get chances."
FACTS:
Jack Wilshere's goal was recorded scored 29 seconds after kick-off,the fastest goal in this season's UCL.
Jack Wilshere's brace is his first double for Arsenal football club since he started to play for the club officially.
Marseille's defeat is their eighth Loss in Europe consecutively, their worst ever run in European football.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 3-1 SS NAPOLI
Energy,Speed,Revenge and Domination were the characteristics shown by Jurgen klopp's men,as they showed that they are not push overs in this year's UCL competition this season.
The game started it's turn of events when Polish striker Robert Lewandowski was brought down in Napoli's 18yard box, referee pointed to the spot, Marco Reus did the rest.
Jakub Blaszczykowski doubled the advantage on the hour mark and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a third after Lorenzo Insigne had pulled one back for Napoli.
The win was welcomed with a sigh of relief by all affiliates of Borussia Dortmund following the three consecutive defeats they suffered. The result also lifts the Bundesliga side to second place in the group of death, level on points with third-placed Napoli with match day 6 left to decide who qualifies.
Jurgen klopp on his sides explosive performance on the night;
We knew that this would be a spectacular game,"
"But I didn’t expect to see so many chances and so much excitement on the pitch.
"We wasted a lot of opportunities,but Pepe Reina also made some great saves.
"We worked hard today and recorded a highly deserved win. However, Napoli was a very tough opponent and it wasn’t easy for us."
AJAX AFC 2-1 FC BARCELONA
It was a night to forget for Barcelona's Tata Martino as he suffered his first defeat as manager of the spanish league champions since he took charge in August.
The dream night started for the host as South Africa's Thulani Serero opened the scoring for them in the 19th minute after composed finish from six yards out before Danny Hoesen extended Ajax's lead just before the break with a neat piece of skill inside the penalty area. The goal however made a fan over-celebrate in the stands,resulting to the supporter falling from his position in the stands leaving him seriously injured.
Barcelona were gifted a way back into the game when Joel Veltman saw red for bringing down Neymar inside the penalty area and Xavi scored from the spot. But that was it, the Catalan side were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage.
The win was Ajax's first in seven European games against Spanish oppositions and also moves them onto seven points with one game remaining and the club's hopes of progressing to the last 16 rest on beating Milan at San Siro.
Coach Tata Martino had this to say;
"It is always possible to lose and we need to analyse more how the team played in the first 45 minutes than the defeat. That is when Ajax made the difference and won the game,"
"We lacked intensity, it is clear that they were quicker,more precise,superior in the one against ones, they were better in all aspects.
FACTS:
Barcelona for the first time in the Uefa Champions league since 2005, lost total possession of the ball in the first half to Ajax.
CELTIC 0-3 AC MILAN
AC Milan halted a seven-game winless slump by clinically ending Celtic's UEFA Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win in Glasgow.
Celtic were backed by the cacophony of noise synonymous with their Champions League nights at home, but slack set-piece defending decisively undermined their efforts in this must-win encounter.
Kaka and Cristian Zapata were the beneficiaries either side of half-time,leaving Mario Balotelli to seal the points on a night when the enigmatic Italy international proved a thorn in the side of the home defence.
"Next we have the home game against Ajax and one point will be enough for us but once again we will try to win," Milan defender Christian Zapata told UEFA's official website.
"We were coming into this game after a difficult period but we responded well on the pitch.
FC BASEL 1-0 CHELSEA FC
Whenever this fixture comes up; only one name would definitely ring into the ear's of every Chelsea fc fan... Mohammed Salah.
The Egyptian international dint fail to deliver the goods for his swiss team on a night Jose Mourinho failed to come to the party at St. Jakob's park in Switzerland.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho warned Basel that his side were much improved since the Swiss champions' shock win at Stamford Bridge in September, but there was no evidence of that as the home side dominated the opening stages.
Petr Cech had to be alert to palm away a Taulant Xhaka free-kick from wide on the left after only two minutes and Chelsea failed to heed the warning when they backed off 10 minutes later and Fabian Frei's strike was saved by the Czech Republic goalkeeper.
John Obi Mikel then cleared off the line after Ivanov got a toe to a Fabian Schar corner and Salah was twice denied by the busy Cech as Chelsea remained on the back foot as there was a blow for the visitors three minutes before half-time when Samuel Eto'o was carried off,with Torres replacing him.
Belgium winger Edin Hazard and Torres provided more of an attacking threat and Mourinho's men were far more solid at the back after the break.
Basel kept playing a hard nut to crack till they snatched a crucial winner when Salah raced away following Schar's pass,and he kept his nerve with a clinical finish to stun Chelsea.
The loss left chelsea boss Jose Mourinho humble;
"The team was tired, they paid the price of the international 15 days. The arrival, the match that followed was crucial against West Ham, where the team played very well in an intense game, but today we paid the price because the players were tired.
FACTS:
Mohammed Salah has scored three goals in the last three encounters between Chelsea and Fc Basel in European competitions
Chelsea finished the game recording no shot on target or at goal.
In other group game encounters;
Schalke's UEFA Champions League qualification hopes hang in the balance following a 0-0 draw at Steaua Bucharest.
The result,combined with Chelsea's 1-0 defeat in Basel, means Schalke go into their final Group E fixture at home to the Swiss champions needing a win to progress to the next round.
Earlier on, an error from Thibaut Courtois saw Atletico Madrid gift Zenit St Petersburg a point as they drew 1-1. The goalkeeper misjudged a deflected cross from Igor Smolnikov in the 74th minute and let the looping ball drop into the net,with that strike cancelling out Adrian Lopez's 54th minute goal for the visitors.
Athletico remain Unbeaten in the group and top the group with 13points.
Fc Porto's hopes of reaching the UEFA Champions League knockout stages remain dented as Austria Vienna claimed a surprise 1-1 away draw. Roman Kienast had given Vienna a shock lead in the 11th minute, capitalising on slack defending to fire home a low shot from long range for his side's first group-stage goal; before the portuguese side secured a point courtesy of a 48th-minute header from Jackson Martinez,but failed to find a winner despite applying plenty of pressure.
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