UCL : Rooney's goal extend United's unbeaten run

Manchester United 2 - 2 Aalborg BK

Wayne Rooney saved Manchester United from an embarrassing UEFA Champions League defeat at home to Aalborg on Wednesday, but the striker was lucky to avoid a red card for a first-half foul on Kasper Risgard during the 2-2 draw.

Even without Ronaldo, United would not have expected to be troubled by an Aalborg team treading water in mid-table in the Danish League, and the European champions appeared to be threatening a rout when they took the lead from their first attack after just three minutes. A swift one-two between Ryan Giggs and Rooney led to Giggs releasing Tevez inside the Aalborg penalty area, and the Argentina striker ruthlessly took his chance by guiding a first-time left foot shot past goalkeeper Karim Zaza.

Tevez then sent a glancing header from Rooney's cross wide of the far post on 23 minutes as United maintained the pressure, but Aalborg were able to withstand the pressure and they stunned United by equalising on 31 minutes. Anders Due's in-swinging free-kick from the right flank was met with a backwards header from Michael Jakobsen and his contact was enough to take the ball past goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

Four minutes before half-time, Rooney then had his lucky escape when French referee Laurent Duhamel failed to spot his foul when he placed his studs in Risgard's chest. Aalborg were angry at the referee's failure to spot the incident, but they made United pay in perfect fashion by grabbing a shock lead when Jeppe Curth headed in Due's cross two minutes into injury time.

United responded well in the second-half, though, and Rooney hauled them level when he rifled in from 20 yards after being released by Brazilian midfielder Anderson to extend United's unbeaten run in the Champions League to 19 games, a record shared with Ajax and Bayern Munich.. But although the home side poured forward in search of a winner, Aalborg held out and the visitors claimed a deserved draw.

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FC Porto 2 - 0 Arsenal

Porto defeated Arsenal 2-0 at home on Wednesday to finish top of Champions League Group G. Arsene Wenger's side needed only a draw at the Dragao Stadium to guarantee pole position and the advantage of a home second leg tie in the second round.

Wenger made seven changes to the team that defeated Wigan on Saturday, and Emmanuel Eboue was given a chance to silence the boo-boys who jeered him off after a poor substitutes' appearance. But Wenger was without injured midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, and opted to rest Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie.

Arsenal threatened for the first time when Mexican teenager Carlos Vela won a free-kick and Denilson's deep set piece was headed over by Abou Diaby. A neat combination between Nicklas Bendtner and Aaron Ramsey opened up the Porto defence in the 25th minute. Welsh teenager Ramsey cut into the penalty area, turned his marker and fired in a low shot, which Helton did well to push around the far post. Porto stepped up the pressure and got their reward in the 39th minute as Diaby was punished for a slack piece of defending. Diaby completely lost Bruno Alves at an inswinging corner and the Arsenal midfielder could only watch in dismay as the Porto star headed powerfully past Almunia.

Arsenal were just as lethargic after half-time and it was Eboue who was the villain again as the right-back allowed Lisandro to make it 2-0 in the 54th minute. Fernando's pass split the Arsenal defence but Eboue played Lisandro onside, and the striker took full advantage, racing clear to drive past Almunia.

The defeat was Arsenal's first of the group stages but, with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Roma among the potential group winners lying in wait in the last 16, it could prove fatal to their chances of advancing to the latter stages.


Real Madrid 3 - 0 Zenit St. Petersburg

Juande Ramos made a winning start as Real Madrid coach with a 3-0 victory over Zenit St Petersburg in UEFA Champions League Group H on Wednesday. The former Tottenham Hotspur and Sevilla boss, who replaced Bernd Schuster on Tuesday, saw his side take the lead through Raul midway through first half following an error from visiting goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev.

The new Madrid coach had called for focus and commitment ahead of Los Merengues' final UEFA Champions League Group H encounter and got just that as his charges dominated from the start. Raúl profited from a Vyacheslav Malafeev error to break the deadlock on 25 minutes but from then on the hosts did all the hard work themselves. The lively Robben doubled the advantage five minutes after the restart with an adroit chip and, soon after, Raúl sealed the victory in similar fashion. It was the cue to ease off as Ramos rang the changes and though Zenit twice hit the woodwork in the closing stages, it was too little, too late.

After a poor run of form, a victory with a clean sheet will give Real a much needed lift ahead of Saturday's trip to face arch-rivals Barcelona in La Liga. fifa

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Full results;

Group A
AS Roma 2 - 0 Bordeaux
Chelsea 2 - 1 CFR Cluj

Group B
Panathinaikos 1 - 0 Anorthosis
Werder Bremen 2 - 1 Inter Milan

Group C
Barcelona 2 - 3 Shakhtar Donetsk
Basel 0 - 1 Sporting Lisbon

Group D
Marseille 0 - 0 Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven 1 - 3 Liverpool
.......
Group E
Celtic 2 - 0 Villarreal
Manchester United 2 - 2 Aalborg BK

Group F
Lyon 2 - 3 Bayern Munich
Steaua Bucuresti 0 - 1 Fiorentina

Group G
Dynamo Kyiv 1 - 0 Fenerbahce
FC Porto 2 - 0 Arsenal

Group H
Juventus 0 - 0 BATE Borisov
Real Madrid 3 - 0 Zenit St. Petersburg