Soccer

Drogba back with a bang

Champions League round-up : Didier Drogba came off the bench to send Chelsea into the knock-out stage of the Champions League…

Tue Dec 09 2008 - 00:00

Champions League round-up: Didier Drogba came off the bench to send Chelsea into the knock-out stage of the Champions League, his 71st-minute goal securing a 2-1 home victory over stubborn Romanians CFR Cluj in their final Group A match.

Last season's runners-up went into the game needing victory to guarantee progress.

The Londoners went ahead through Salomon Kalou five minutes before halftime but had a nervous spell after Yssouf Kone headed an equaliser 10 minutes after the restart.

There was relief all round though when Drogba, on as a 64th-minute substitute, produced a top-class finish after Joe Cole's clever through ball.

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Captain Francesco Totti was on target as AS Roma beat Bordeaux 2-0 to secure top spot in the group for the the hosts. Roma top the group with 12 points, one more than Chelsea. Bordeaux finished third with seven.

Liverpool clinched top spot in Group D with a confident 3-1 win in the Philips Stadion. Goals from Ryan Babel, Albert Riera and David Ngog saw off a poor PSV Eindhoven
side.

They started well and took the lead with a controversial goal from Danko Lazovic, but Liverpool pulled level through Babel seconds before the break, and took over in the second period.

In Group C, two goals from Olexandr Gladkiy and one from Fernandinho gave Shakhtar Donetsk a 3-2 win over a second-string Barcelona.

Barcelona were already assured of first place in the group and rested eight first-choice players at a half-empty stadium. With Sporting also through in second, Shakhtar could not better third and will play in the Uefa Cup.

A second-half goal from Greece midfielder Giorgos Karagounis secured Panathinaikos their place in latter stages after a 1-0 win over Anorthosis Famagusta in Group B.

Victory at the Olympic Stadium sent the Athens side though as winners on 10 points, two ahead of Inter Milan who lost 2-1 at Werder Bremen.

Anorthosis, who had needed a victory to reach the knockout phase, finished bottom of the group and missed out on the Uefa Cup slot.

The only goal of the game came in the 68th minute when Karagounis collected a cross from Dimitris Salpigidis and fired in a shot that squirmed over the body of substitute goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy.