UEFA Champions League - Gameweek # 4 - Wednesday - Review

It was overall a very good day for English clubs in the Champions League. However , poor old Celtic suffered a defeat in Amsterdam requiring them to beat Milan and hope for a miracle in Barcelona in their last two games. The standout performance however was from Arsenal as they overcame last year’s runners up Borussia Dortmund in their own backyard. Here is a review of all the action

AFC AJAX 1—- 0 CELTIC

In an encounter which was very crucial for Celtic to continue their Champions League adventures in early 2014, the Scottish Champions failed to cut it. The no show in Amsterdam after an impressive showing back in Scotland in the reverse fixture came as quite the surprise. Celtic had come here to be cagey and grab at least a point . However, for the best part of 90 minutes, Ajax outplayed Celtic. Well, this was to be expected but when Lasse Schöne shot past Fraser Forster, a response from Celtic never came.

Turgid football was further compounded with woeful finishing. First leg hero Kayal and Stokes both wasted glorious opportunities . And by the end when the final whistle came, the only good news for Celtic was that Barcelona had beaten Milan and their qualification would hence still be in their own hands.

Man Of The Match - Siem De Jong. The Ajax Captain was extremely intelligent in possession and was the heart of everything that Celtic did.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND 0—- 1 ARSENAL

Well, so much for my predictions. I had predicted a 1-0 Arsenal win at The Emirates and a 2-1 Borussia win here. Well, the reverse happened as Arsenal shocked the Westfalenstadion with a perfect away performance. They were at times punched to a corner. But they resisted impressively like a top side and struck back with a sucker punch when Aaron Ramsey headed them into the lead. The Welshman is now putting Gareth Bale’s place as the best Welsh player in doubt. He is combining Steven Gerrard’s love for the crucial moments with Frank Lampard’s uncanny ability to find the back of the net from midfield.

Dortmund kept knocking but Per Mertesacker in particular was solid in the Arsenal defence. Gone are the days when pundits scoffed at the big German, here he stood his ground and thwarted the likes of Reus and Lewandowski. Old Trafford might yet present a clearer picture of Arsenal’s latest emergence but two wins out of two in the same week against Liverpool and Dortmund (away) seems highly promising. And to think about the opening day of the season when the Emirates crowd were shouting ‘Wenger Out’...

Man Of The Match - Per Mertesacker. Despite Aaron Ramsey’s goal, Olivier Giroud’s wonderful centre forward play, it was the big German who came out trumps against Dortmund’s nimble footed attackers.

CHELSEA 3—- 0 FC SCHALKE

As predicted in the preview , it was all too easy for Chelsea and they came out with a 3-0 victory. Samuel Eto’o , once the world’s highest earning footballer, took full advantage of the chance presented to him by Fernando Torres’ injury and slotted in a couple. Eden Hazard and Juan Mata, widely considered Chelsea’s best players were both missing and strangely Mourinho’s team seemed much better. Gary Cahill in defence was solid and should start getting the nod of the error prone David Luiz in the Premier League.

Mourinho waxed about a father-son relationship when asked why Hazard was dropped. The self anointed Special One is now seeking his third European Cup and will look forward to more tension free nights like this. Despite a shaky start , Chelsea and Samuel Eto’o struck twice. And then Demba Ba added a third to give Mourinho a boost after the set back at St. James’ Park.

Man Of The Match - Samuel Eto’o. A Chelsea striker scoring goals seems almost weird these days. However two of them were on the mark and one of them was on the mark twice. The Cameroonian Eto’o might yet prove a shrewd piece of business