 |
|
||
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
   | 
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Holders Liverpool edge out Chelsea
 Essien, left, was fortunate to escape a red card against Liverpool LONDON, England -- Holders Liverpool won Champions League Group G on Tuesday after holding Chelsea to a goalless draw, with both sides already qualified for the knockout phase. Chelsea's Michael Essien, not for the first time, was the villain of the piece with an atrocious, shin-high tackle on Dietmar Hamann. Group F winners Lyon extended their unbeaten Champions League run by beating Rosenborg Trondheim 2-1 with a goal in added time from Brazilian striker Fred. The four-time French champions had already won their section ahead of Real Madrid, who lost 2-1 at Olympiakos Piraeus, and go into the knockout phase after five victories and a draw. Teenage striker Karim Benzema, who will turn 18 in a few days, opened the scoring for home side Lyon from inside the box in the 33rd minute. Forward Daniel Braaten levelled for the visitors with a header from a free kick after 68 minutes. "(Coach) Gerard Houllier and all the players deserve a lot of praise for a great run and a great victory tonight, which we had to fight for," said Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas. Liverpool finished with a point advantage over Premiership rivals Chelsea who could easily have finished with 10 men. But as had been the case with his sickening studs-up thrust into the knee of Bolton's Tal Ben Haim earlier this season, Essien stayed on the pitch. Mystifyingly, the German referee, Herbert Fandel, not merely saw nothing amiss, but gave the free-kick Chelsea's way. That may be a mixed blessing for Chelsea, though, for the fact that the referee apparently didnt see the incident allows European soccer governing body UEFA to impose its own, retrospective, punishment. The Anfield tie in September also ended 0-0. Finish thirdNorwegian side Rosenborg knew before kickoff that they would finish third in their group ahead of Olympiakos to qualify for the UEFA Cup whatever the outcome of Tuesday's matches. A late goal from Rivaldo provided some consolation for Olympiakos against an understrength Real Madrid. With caretaker coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro taking charge of Real for the first time since the sacking of Vanderlei Luxemburgo on Sunday, the Spanish club took a seventh-minute lead through Sergio Ramos. Olympiakos came back strongly in the second half and levelled in spectacular fashion when Erol Bulut latched on to a clearance from Raul Bravo and volleyed home from 20 meters. Rivaldo missed a straightforward effort from close in but made no mistake when he got a second chance three minutes from time. The result was "part of my dream," Olympiakos coach Trond Sollied said. The players "showed in the second half what they can do." Anderlecht salvaged some pride from a miserable campaign when they grabbed their first points in Group G with a 1-0 win away to Real Betis. Defender Vincent Kompany spared the Belgian side the embarrassment of becoming only the second team to end a group stage without scoring a goal when he drilled home the winner just a minute before the break. The victory was not enough to prevent the Belgians from finishing bottom of the standings with just three points from their six games. Betis, who were already guaranteed a place in the UEFA Cup after finishing third in the group, ended their first ever appearance in Europe's elite club competition with seven points. 
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
