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21 Sporting CP - Chelsea ....................... 0-1 A 34th-minute header from Ne- manja Matić earned Chelsea's first win in Group G and left Sporting still waiting for theirs. Nemanja Matić's first-half header was good enough for Chelsea FC to take the points in an exciting and open contest with Sporting Clube de Portugal. Returning to the Portuguese capi- tal, where he spent three years with Sporting's local rivals SL Benfica, Matić's goal proved decisive as the 2012 winners missed a series of chances and ended up having to withstand a zesty fightback from the locals. Back in this competition after a four-year absence, Sporting almost made the worst possible start. Oscar sent Diego Costa clean through in just the second minute, but Rui Patrí- cio spread himself superbly to deny the incredulous Spain forward. Roared on by fervent home sup- port, Sporting came back, but Oscar was proving difficult for Sporting to track. The Brazil midfielder was in- volved heavily again on the quarter- hour, when André Schürrle played a speedy one-two with him before the excellent Patrício shut him out. Schürrle, a constant threat, worked Patrício twice more before dragging a shot wide as the goal beckoned from Eden Hazard's cross. When Chelsea finally did break through, it was from a source famil- iar to both sides. The Blues' set-piece mastery was again in evidence as Cesc Fàbregas sent in a deep free-kick, with Matić heading in at the far post, over Rui Patrício. Sporting might have re- flected that they were fortunate to be only one down at the break. Marco Silva's men emerged for the second period re-energised, and Nani sent an early warning that Sport- ing weren't finished, firing wide of Thibaut Courtois' goal from distance. They continued to press but were almost caught on the break, when Maurício's excellent last-ditch chal- lenge was needed to stop Costa. Soon after, Patrício rushed from his goal to smother the marauding Oscar. It almost proved a turning point, with Nani finding the side netting from João Mário's pass seconds later. Adrien Silva then slashed a half-volley over from the edge of the area. José Mourinho brought on Willian and John Obi Mikel to add more steel to his midfield. The experienced visitors took the sting out of the game and thus became the first English team to win here since Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United FC in 2007. Schalke 04 - Maribor........................ 1-1 FC Schalke 04 and NK Maribor remain level-pegging in Group G af- ter a 1-1 draw at the Stadion Gelsen- kirchen. After both games ended 1-1 on matchday one, pole position was there for the taking, and Maribor staked a genuine claim when they took the lead against the run of play in the opening period. However, Klaas-Jan Hunte- laar's second goal in as many UEFA Champions League games this season left the sides all square on the night and in the table as Chelsea FC seized the early initiative thanks to their win at Sporting Clube de Portugal. The Schalke players were given a heroes' welcome upon their arrival at the stadium following Saturday's Revierderby victory over fierce rivals Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga and they began with due confidence as Dennis Aogo curled an early free- kick just over and Huntelaar twice went close after getting into good positions. Yet the visitors almost stunned the home crowd into silence on 11 min- utes when Dare Vršič spotted Ralf Fährmann off his line, narrowly miss- ing the target from inside his own half with the Schalke goalkeeper furiously back-pedalling. Still, it was the Ger- man side dictating proceedings and, with Julian Draxler eager to impress after missing out at the weekend sus- pended, the Royal Blues had an added touch of quality in attack. Defensively, though, Schalke remain under strength and despite the best efforts of Roman Neustädter, a mid- fielder by trade, to fill the void left by injured captain Benedikt Höwedes, holes were appearing. Maribor took full advantage on 38 minutes as Mitja Viler scurried in behind before squar- ing for Bohar to break the deadlock. Schalke had been criticised for not taking so-called smaller opposition seriously enough this season and the opening goal seemed to suggest there might be substance to the claim, though they soon levelled after the in- terval as Viler inexplicably presented Huntelaar with the ball. The Dutch- man still had work to do, working himself a yard of space on the edge of the box before squeezing his finish past Jasmin Handanović. The enthusiastic Draxler had an ex- cellent chance to win it for the hosts when he spun and shot on the pen- alty spot, but Handanović remained alert and made further saves to deny Kevin-Prince Boateng and Draxler again, ensuring both sides came away with a point. BATE Borisov - Athletic Bilbao ........... 2-1 FC BATE Borisov bounced back from a chastening first Group H game to overcome Athletic Club and revive their UEFA Champions League chal- lenge at the Spanish side's expense. Beaten 6-0 at FC Porto on matchday one, the home team were quickly into their stride in the first UEFA Champi- ons League match at their new Bori- sov Arena, and before 20 minutes had elapsed they were in front through Denis Polyakov. Maksim Volodko's right-wing corner was flicked on at the near post and the BATE No33 was left unmarked to volley past the exposed Gorka Iraizoz. The goalkeeper was helpless again moments later as BATE went close to doubling their lead. Aleksandr Karnitski twisted and turned inside the Athletic area before chipping the ball to the far post, where Nikolai Signevich volleyed back across goal. With Iraizoz a spectator, only the right-hand upright came to Athletic's rescue – but there was to be no such escape 11 minutes later. This time Karnitski did the hard work himself, although he needed a sizeable deflection to get the better of Iraizoz. The BATE No7 turned sharply on the edge of the box and fired towards the bottom right cor- ner. However, Andoni Iraola got in the way and sent the ball into the op- posite corner, leaving his goalkeeper without a hope. Athletic required a spark and, on the stroke of half-time, they found it. Iker Munaian pulled the ball down and his clever pass took three BATE defenders out of the game; Aritz Aduriz turned past Polyakov to slide a low shot across Sergei Chernik and into the far corner. BATE continued to look the likelier scorers after the break and just past the hour passed up a golden chance to restore their two-goal cushion. Mikhail Gordeychuk set Signevich loose on the Athletic defence but, hav- ing forced his way through, the striker thrashed his shot over the bar. That miss almost proved costly with eight minutes left, Markel Susa- eta sending a fierce shot towards the BATE goal; Chernik was equal to it and pushed over. Athletic pushed for- ward in search of a late reprieve, but BATE held on. Shakhtar Donetsk - FC Porto ............. 2-2 Substitute Jackson Martínez struck twice in the last two minutes as FC Porto came from 2-0 down to earn a point at FC Shakhtar Donetsk. The visitors' frustrating evening looked to be capped when Luiz Adri- ano doubled Shakhtar's advantage five minutes from time. Porto, though, refused to be beaten. They stormed forward and won their second penalty of the evening when Yaroslav Rakit- skiy handled. Martínez beat Andriy Pyatov, and was then on hand in the fourth minute of added time to tap in at the near post and earn a remark- able draw. The Arena Lviv was packed on its introduction to the UEFA Champions League and at times in the first half it seemed only the partisan crowd's col- lective will was keeping Porto at bay. The visitors' attacking trio of Cristian Tello, Óliver Torres and Yacine Bra- himi ran the home defence ragged, constantly pushing and probing at a high defensive line. It made for a challenging first half for Olexandr Kucher, only playing af- ter passing a late fitness test, and ten minutes before the break it proved a step too far as Brahimi went down under his challenge. With memories of his matchday one hat-trick bil- lowing wind in his sails, the forward looked confident but Pyatov guessed right and was right. The crowd breathed again but they always had cause for optimism. Tai- son had tested fellow Brazilian Fabi- ano with an early swerving effort and Maicon so nearly scuffed in the most innocuous of own goals. Time and again the final ball was lacking but when they did find their poise seven minutes after half-time it came from a surprising source. Centre-back Kucher found himself in an advanced position on the right and pounced on a moment of dalli- ance from the similarly misplaced Torres. A simple square ball across the box and Alex Teixeira did the rest. Kucher was quickly in more familiar surrounds, with the Ukrainian cham- pions defending ever deeper as Porto pushed for the equaliser. They came close, too, but Pyatov simply returned to centre stage. His save from Adrián López eight minutes from time looked to be decisive, espe- cially when Shakhtar swept forward and Luiz Adriano tapped in to make it 2-0. Martínez had other ideas. Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2014 FOOTBALL Osvaldo doesn't want Southampton return FORWARD Dani Osvaldo says he has no intention of returning to Southampton, with the club- record signing keen to complete a permanent move to Inter Milan. Much was expected of the 28- year-old when he swapped Roma for the south coast in a deal worth up to £14.6million in August 2013. However, Osvaldo managed just five months at St Mary's before being shipped out on loan to Ju- ventus following an altercation with team-mate Jose Fonte. The Bianconeri passed up the opportunity to make the deal per- manent, resulting in the Argenti- na-born Italy international linking up with Inter for this campaign. Osvaldo penned a season-long loan deal and has enjoyed an im- pressive start to life at the San Siro, where he wants to remain for the long term. "The club is important and there is also an important project," he told Sky Sport Italia. "My wish is to remain here. It is a united group. I'd like to stay in the same team for more than two years." Chelsea see off Sporting Nemanja Mati• and his team-mates celebrate Chelsea's goal in Lisbon