UEFA Champions League Tuesday Roundup
On Tuesday, there were 2 games played in the Champions League, Manchester United v Porto, and Arsenal vs Villarrael.
This was the ‘easier’ half of the quarterfinals many people have been saying, for in the other half who play tonight are Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich. Pundits and fans also were saying before the matches took place, it would be a stroll in the park for Manchester and Arsenal, and the two would face in the semifinals, however, everyone’s predictions may be wrong because Tuesday held quite a few surprises. Here’s SER’s summary of Tuesday’s Champions League matches.
Manchester United vs Porto
In one of those ‘easy’ games, the reigning champions were stunned when Porto came out and attacked them from the start. In the first 15 minutes, Porto were all over the British side, dominating in possession, and simply outplaying them. This good form was paid off in the 4th minute when Christian Rodriguez scooted around Johnny Evans, and brilliantly placed the ball around Van Der Sar into the bottom left hand corner. Then in the 15th minute, when United looked to be rattled, the experienced defender, Bruno Alvez made a horrendous mistake by passing it back to Helton, but it never reached the Brazilian, because Wayne Rooney was on hand to intercept the ball and neatly chip it over the Porto goalie. Throughout the remainder of the first half, the two sides were pretty even, both exchanging patches of good form, keeping the score a deadlock going into the break. After the interval, Sir Alex Ferguson put on Gary Neville and Carlos Tevez, hoping they’d bring some offensive fire to the team, and it paid off nearly immediately. With 4 minutes left of time, Rooney was involved yet again in Manchester’s offense, backheeling a Neville throw into the path of Tevez who got ahead of Rolando to steer the ball beyond Helton. United looked to have claimed certain victory with the goal, when Porto produced a dagger in the giant’s heart. In the 89th minute of play, Mariano was on hand to collect Raul Meireles’ deflected cross, and coolly slotted past Van Der Sar.
Arsenal vs Villarrael
Arsenal were looking to claim at least some silverware this season, and coming into Tuesday fired up, the Spanish side were first to draw blood. Villarreal were quickly into their stride and soon claimed a brilliant goal, for sure one of the nominees for goal of the year. Giuseppe Rossi claimed the assist, giving his captain time and space to collect his short pass. Senna had not scored for more than five months but broke the drought with a lethal right-root bomb finding the top corner of the net. Arsenal’s night looked even bleaker when Aluminia was injured in an early tackle with Rossi. The keeper limped off after 28 minutes to be replaced by Lukasz Fabianski for only his second appearance in the competition. Despite their first-half domination, Villarreal began the second period on the back foot. Nasri, Fàbregas and Theo Walcott played more offensive roles deeper into the opponent’s half, and as a result Villarreal’s defense found their work steadily increasing. Adebayor canceled out Senna’s early strike with an equally brilliant goal in the 66th minute. Fàbregas, who came back from injury last week, had set up Adebayor for two goals against Manchester City FC on Saturday and provided another assist when Adebayor chested his lob and with an acrobatic jump, beat López with an amazing bicycle kick.
