LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Arsenal, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund were all among the winners in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
However, Chelsea, Barcelona and Celtic were beaten on the night.
At the Emirates Stadium in Group F, a brace from England midfielder Jack Wilshere guided Arsenal to a 2-0 win over Marseille and at the top of the group with 12 points from their five games.
Mesut Ozil also missed a first half penalty kick after Aaron Ramsey was brought down outside the area, but the referee award a spot kick still.
“We were in control and it looked, at times, that we lacked a bit of sharpness to finish the game off but overall we were always in control of the game and the only regret is that we couldn’t score more goals,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told ITV.
“We have 12 points in five games overall, it’s a good number of points, and I’m confident we can take another point or three in Naples if we play well.”
Winning in the group as well were Borussia Dortmund, who scored a 3-1 victory over Napoli at Signal Iduna Park. A penalty from Marco Reus, and a goal each from Jakub Blaszczykowski and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang did the trick for the German side, while Lorenzo Insigne netted the lone goal for Napoli.
In Group E action, English Premier League side Chelsea fell 1-0 to Switzerland team Basle, who completed the Champions League double over Jose Mourinho’s side this season. Basle defeated the EPL side earlier this year at Stamford Bridge, and Mohamed Salah’s 87th minute finish made sure Murat Yakin stayed on course to qualify for the last 16. Despite the defeat, Chelsea qualified for the second round.
“A bad performance, a deserved defeat. But because of other results, we qualify. That is the only positive thing from this night,” Mourinho told reporters after the defeat.
“I did not like anything from the first minute. We started with a defensive mistake. There was no reaction from the players, and wrong decisions. I am not sad with them, as I understand they were not fresh.”
Also in the group, Steaua Bucuresti and Schalke finished 0-0 at Stadionul Steaua, which means that the former were dumped from this year’s tournament.
AC Milan stayed on course to qualify for the next round, following a 3-0 victory over Celtic, which knocked the Scottish champions out of the tournament.
Kaka, Cristian Zapata and Mario Balotelli were all on target in the Group H encounter at Parkhead, while Ajax stunned Barcelona 2-1 at the Amsterdam Arena.
In Group G action Porto and FK Austria Vienna ended 1-1, so too did Zenit St Petersburg and group leaders Atletico Madrid 1.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCHDAY FIVE RESULTS
Champions League Group E
Basle 1 Chelsea 0
at St Jakob Park.
Steaua Bucuresti 0 Schalke 0
at Stadionul Steaua.
Champions League Group F
Arsenal 2 Marseille 0
at the Emirates Stadium.
Borussia Dortmund 3 Napoli 1
at Signal Iduna Park.
Champions League Group G
Porto 1 FK Austria Vienna 1
at Estadio do Dragao.
Zenit St Petersburg 1 Atletico Madrid 1
at Petrovski Stadium.
Champions League Group H
Celtic 0 AC Milan 3
at Parkhead.
Ajax 2 Barcelona 1
at the Amsterdam Arena
