The Hindu : Sport / Football : Lyon maintains clean slate

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 21, 2005

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Sport - Football

Lyon maintains clean slate

LONDON: Lyon defeated Olympiakos 2-1 on Wednesday, leaving the four-time defending French champion as only one of three teams with perfect records in the Champions League.

Inter Milan saw its perfect record blemished with a 2-0 loss at 2004 champion FC Porto. Two other teams won big — Chelsea swamped Real Betis 4-0, and nine-time champion Real Madrid overwhelmed Rosenborg 4-1.

Sidney Govou scored the winning goal for Lyon, clipping the ball past Olympiakos goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis. The victory gave Lyon three wins in three games, and nine points atop Group F. Olympiakos has lost its first three. Bayern Munich and Arsenal — the other two clubs with perfect records in Europe's top club tournament — picked up victories on Tuesday.

In the other Group F game, Madrid got second-half goals from Jonathan Woodgate, Raul Gonzalez, Ivan Helguera and David Beckham. Real Madrid improved to six points, with Rosenborg on three.

``In the second half, we scored four but it could have been more,'' Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo said. ``Tactically we were very good.''

Lopsided victory

Chelsea picked up the night's most lopsided victory and stayed atop Group G. The Blues have seven points, and lead English rival Liverpool on goal difference.

Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho scored in the first half for Chelsea, and Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo added two more in the second. Betis has only three points in three games.

``We are not yet there, but we are in a good position,'' Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. ``I think everybody understands that Chelsea is a very strong team and we are one of many, many, many candidates to win this competition. I would say seven, eight, nine, 10.

``Everybody knows it's not easy to beat Chelsea.''

The victory was Chelsea's 11th in 12 games this season. The only blemish is a 0-0 draw against Liverpool in its previous Champions League game. The Blues have scored 13 goals in their last three games.

Djibril Cisse's goal in the 20th minute gave Liverpool a 1-0 victory over Anderlecht, which has lost 10 straight Champions League games.

``It was good to get three points to stay in contact with Chelsea,'' Cisse said. ``Everybody is dangerous in this group.''

The closest contest is in Group E. Milan leads with five points, followed by Fenerbahce and PSV with three, and Schalke with two. Milan controlled the 0-0 draw, but could not find the net.

``We did everything we could, our play was better than average,'' Milan substitute striker Filippo Inzaghi said. ``I'm sorry for the result, but if we keep playing like this the points will come.''

The other Group E game had all the goals, with Schalke drawing 3-3 at Fenerbahce. Stephen Appiah scored the equaliser for Fenerbahce in the 79th. Fabio Luciano and Marcio Nobre also scored for the Turks. Brazilian Lincoln scored two for Schalke, with Kevin Kuranyi making it 3-2 in the 77th, setting the stage for the equaliser.

Inter Milan stays on top

In Group H, Inter Milan stayed on top with six points despite a 2-0 loss at Porto. Benni McCarthy scored for Porto in the 35th, after Inter defender Marco Materazzi scored an own-goal in the 22nd.

Rangers and Artmedia Bratislava improved to four points each with their scoreless draw.

Bayern leads Group A and Arsenal leads Group B — both with a perfect nine points. Barcelona tops Group C with seven points, and Man United has five to lead Group D.

The results: At Istanbul: Group E: Fenerbahce (Tur 3 (Luciano 13, Nobre 72, Appiah 78) Schalke 04 (Ger) 3 (Lincoln 58, 61, Kuranyi 76). At Milan, Italy: AC Milan (Ita) 0 PSV Eindhoven (Ned) 0.

Group F: At Lyon, France: Lyon (Fra) 2 (Juninho 4, Govou 88) Olympiakos (Gre) 1 (Kafes 84)

At Madrid: Real Madrid (Esp) 4 (Woodgate 48, Raul 52, Helguera 68, Beckham 82) Rosenborg (Nor) 1 (Strand 40)

Group G: At Brussels: Anderlecht (Bel) 0 Liverpool (Eng) 1 (Cisse 20). At London

Chelsea (ENG) 4 (Drogba 24, Ricardo Carvalho 44, J. Cole 59, Crespo 64) Betis Seville (Esp) 0

Group H: At Oporto, Portugal: FC Porto (Por) 2 (Materazzi 22-og, McCarthy 35) Inter Milan (Ita) 0. — Agencies

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