Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/401761
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2014 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Bayern run rampage at Roma Both sides ended the night with record-breaking results as the German champions pummelled their main Group E rivals Roma 1 - 7 Bayern Munich BAYERN Munich struck five times in the first half en route to a 7-1 demo- lition of hosts Roma on Wednesday to make it three wins out of three in Group E of the Champions League. The Germans dominated the early exchanges at the Stadio Olimpico and deservedly took the lead in the ninth minute thanks to Arjen Robben's trademark bending effort. Mario Gotze doubled Bayern's ad- vantage midway through the first half and Robert Lewandowski scored a third two minutes later. Polish forward Lewandowski then set up Robben's second on the half- hour mark to silence most of the 65,000 spectators. After 36 minutes, Thomas Muller made it 5-0 when he converted from the penalty spot following a handball by Kostas Manolas. Roma's Gervinho struck in the 66th minute but Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri came off the bench to add two more goals for the visitors before the final whistle. The outcome has lifted Bayern five points clear of nearest rivals Roma, who remained in second after Man- chester City's 2-2 draw at CSKA Mos- cow in the other group game. The hosts went into the contest un- beaten in the competition and looking to leapfrog Bayern into first place. But the visitors stamped their au- thority on the game early and went in front when Philipp Lahm set up Rob- ben in the area and the Dutchman cut inside on his left foot and shot towards the far post, out of the reach of Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis. The Romans reacted and seconds later, Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neu- er had to save Gervinho's left-footed attempt from the heart of the area. Shorly after, Lahm spotted Lewand- owski in the box and his effort was kept out by De Sanctis. Bayern coach Pep Guardiola did not have to wait long to see his side double the lead and do so in style. Gotze played a superb one-two with Muller and he struck the ball from just outside the area past a helpless De Sanctis. As Roma struggled, Bayern again made them pay. A defensive distraction left Lewand- owski unmarked in the box and the Pole headed Juan Bernat's cross into the back of the net. Bayern's attacking display contin- ued and Lewandowski engineered his team's fourth. His perfect pass towards the far post found Robben, who got past his marker Ashley Cole and slotted the ball towards the back of the net. Roma's nightmare was not over as the referee pointed at the spot after Manolas blocked the ball with his arm inside Roma's area. Muller stepped up to take the pen- alty and slotted the ball towards the right post to beat De Sanctis. Roma were unlucky not to score in the 54th minute when Gervinho's shot hit the near post with Neuer beaten. Seconds later and Neuer denied Ro- ma's first with a good save from Ales- sandro Florenzi's close-range effort. Roma's efforts paid off when Gerv- inho headed Radja Nainggolan's cross from five yards past Neuer. Bayern made it 6-1, however, in the 78th minute when Robben fed Ribery and he chipped the ball over De Sanc- tis. Two minutes later, De Sanctis was unable to hold on to Rafinha's pow- erful strike and Shaqiri pounced on the loose ball to fire past the Roma keeper. CSKA Moscow 2 - 2 Manchester C. PFC CSKA Moskva recovered from two goals down to draw with Manchester City FC, Bebras Natcho's late penalty ensuring both sides' Group E prospects continue to hang in the balance. CSKA were desperately looking for an upturn in fortunes after los- ing their last six UEFA Champions League matches, a run that started al- most a year ago to the day when they went down 2-1 to the Citizens in Mos- cow. The opening signs were good as Ahmed Musa and Zoran Tošić both went close with curling efforts from distance. Musa then had an even better op- portunity to break the deadlock hav- ing been put through by an excellent Natcho pass, but a heavy first touch allowed Eliaquim Mangala to get back and make the covering tackle. Within moments the visitors had taken the lead. David Silva beat the offside trap, sending Edin Džeko through on goal, and he unselfishly squared for strike partner Sergio Agüero to tap in his fifth goal in three games against CSKA. Seven minutes before half-time it appeared the points were heading to Manchester as City doubled their advantage. Yaya Touré's fine floated ball picked out Pablo Zabaleta, who knocked down for Agüero. The City forward mis-hit his shot, yet it turned into a perfect cross for James Milner to slide in. If CSKA were rattled and lacking in confidence, their fortunes were re- vived by the interval introduction of Seydou Doumbia. The Ivorian made his presence felt in the 65th minute, showing great determination to con- vert Musa's perfect centre and breathe new life into the contest. The hosts continued to press but without further testing Joe Hart in the City goal, and it seemed the away team would hold on. However, with four minutes left, Aleksandar Kolarov was adjudged to have fouled Doumbia and Natcho made no mistake from the spot, leaving City on two points and CSKA one – with all to play for in Manchester on matchday four. APOEL Nicosia 0 - 1 Paris St Germain A late goal from Edinson Cavani gave Paris Saint-Germain a hard- earned victory at APOEL FC, only a remarkable goalline clearance from David Luiz having kept the scoresheet blank. APOEL stated their intent early as George Efrem launched a counterat- tack from the left and crossed towards Cillian Sheridan, Salvatore Sirigu sav- ing at the near post. Paris were strug- gling to settle on the ball, APOEL's tight defending and pressure high up the pitch disturbing their efforts. Giorgos Donis' players also tested the visitors' defence with their coun- terattacking, Luiz blocking Efrem's seventh-minute shot. The Paris midfield picked up their performance as the half unfolded, but with space at a premium were forced to go wide. Laurent Blanc's side still started to threaten, however, Thiago Motta trying his luck from range be- fore Javier Pastore's effort was was blocked by Urko Pardo. Cavani then went even closer, failing to connect properly with Lucas' ball and diverting wide, much to the relief of the typically vocal home crowd. Paris continued to press for a first- half breakthrough but some brilliant defending by Carlão and João Guil- herme kept the visitors at bay. On a night laden with goals else- where, the visitors came storming out of the blocks after the interval search- ing to break the deadlock and within a minute Pardo had to tip over Pardo's header. APOEL were on the ropes but came back strongly and created the biggest opportunity of the night in the 56th minute. Gustavo Manduca crossed from the left and Tiago Gomes' header was cleared acrobatically off the line by David Luiz, the centre-back twisting to head away. The Brazilian defender was there again moments later, when the ball escaped Sirigu's hands after a scramble in the box. Those interventions proved crucial with three minutes to go. A long ball forward was knocked down by Paris substitute Jean-Christophe Bahe- beck and Cavani twisted away from Gomes and Carlão before stroking underneath Pardo to take the points to France. Barcelona 3 - 1 Ajax FC Barcelona produced their per- formance of the season to beat AFC Ajax 3-1 and keep the pressure on Group F leaders Paris Saint-Germain. Neymar and Lionel Messi took the game away from the Dutch champi- ons in a 17-minute first-half burst. From the first minute Luis Enrique's side played with convincing zip and purpose. Every one of them looked like they were doing the thing they loved best. Ajax, given a four-goal beating the last time they played at the Camp Nou, worked with intensity and intelligence to contain the threat but their being breached was just a matter of time. When it came, the opener carried all the same 'Barça' hallmarks as Messi's high-speed combination goal in Paris in the last group match. Gerard Piqué began the move and the ball fizzed be- tween Ivan Rakitić, Pedro Rodríguez and Messi before his deft pass gave his Brazilian team-mate a sight of goal. Using the highest part of the instep of his right boot Neymar curved a fabu- lous drive beyond Jasper Cillessen at full stretch. How on-form Barcelona felt was signalled by Marc Barta's laser-guid- ed delivery to help set up Messi who scooped over. But his moment would arrive. Niki Zimling, aiming to find Lucas Andersen, had his pass clini- cally intercepted by Javier Mascher- ano. He found Andrés Iniesta who executed the pass of the night and de- spite Cillessen touching Messi's finish it became his 69th goal in this compe- tition, tied with Cristiano Ronaldo. Kudos to Ajax. Under siege, lacking one or two key players and gasping for oxygen, they tried to play. Com- bination football, flat-out efforts to mark Messi via a tag-team of Niklas Moisander, Zimling, Nick Viergever and Davy Klaassen. Valiantly though they worked, Messi has been given "total freedom" by his coach and he exploited it. Just before the half-hour another scintillating high-speed combination between Bartra, Pedro and Messi left Pedro firing a fierce diagonal shot off Cillessen's left-hand post. It meant Ajax were still in it and that impression was cemented when Iniesta's run before half-time split the entire red and white sea of jer- seys, only for Cillessen to conjure a prodigious reaction save one-on-one to fingertip Iniesta's dinked chip past the post. Ajax couldn't afford to allow the gift of that fingertip grasp on the game to escape them, yet as the sec- ond half showed them playing with more conviction two big chances eluded Frank de Boer's men. Ricardo van Rhijn sliced a shot wide of Marc-André ter Stegen's goal when he was required to hit the target and, in the 62nd minute, Piqué's wild swipe at a cross sliced the ball up and onto the roof of his own net. But not in it. For most of the last quarter Luis Enrique opted to play without the scorers and Iniesta – with a view to facing Real Madrid CF this weekend. But it meant that the win ended with more game time for young products Munir El Haddadi, Rafinha and Sandro Ramírez – whose 94th- minute contribution was to restore the two-goal advantage after Ajax substitute Anwar El Ghazi's strike close to full time. Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben (front) celebrates after scoring against AS Roma