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Jelle goal extends Chelsea's wobble; Gunners frustrated

David Luiz missed a second-half penalty © Getty Images

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Chelsea were unable to find a morale-boosting victory as a second-half equaliser from Jelle Vossen earned Genk a shock 1-1 draw.

Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas was forced to defend his side's backline after the 5-3 loss against Arsenal at the weekend, but it was their attack that failed to fire in Belgium. The Blues are left to rue a penalty miss from defender David Luiz, who was surprisingly handed the spot-kick duties.

Having struggled to break down a defensive-minded Genk side early on, Chelsea eventually found a breakthrough on 26 minutes thanks to a moment of magic from Fernando Torres. The striker collected a pass from Ramires, turned and dinked a through-ball over the defence and back into the path of the Brazilian, who struck a half-volley into the net from close range.

After Torres' brilliance, another of Chelsea's often-criticised players, Luiz, had the chance to double the advantage from the penalty spot - but his tame effort was easily repelled.

Chelsea had a let-off early in the second period when Petr Cech was forced to save from Kennedy Kwanganga, and the resurgent Belgians forced an equaliser on the hour: an unmarked Vossen firing in after connecting with Fabien Camus' low centre.

That equaliser shook Chelsea into life, and their tempo noticeably quickened in the final quarter of the match. Frank Lampard somehow contrived to miss from three yards following fine work from Daniel Sturridge, then a Florent Malouda shot was hacked off line by Camus as Genk earned a point.

Elsewhere in Group E, second-half strikes from Roberto Soldado and Adil Rami gave Valencia a 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen. Jonas had given Valencia the lead after ten seconds, only for Stefan Kiessling to equalise. Chelsea remain top of the group on eight points, with Leverkusen on seven, Valencia on five and Genk on two.

Aaron Ramsey wasted two fine first-half chances © Getty Images

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Meanwhile, Arsenal's resurgence was checked by a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Marseille which leaves question marks over Arsene Wenger's decison to omit Robin van Persie from the starting line-up.

The Gunners, who had won eight of their last nine before the match, enjoyed a lively 20-minute period in the first half - but apart from that it was a flat performance, and Marseille were good value for their draw.

The visitors betrayed their lowly standing in Ligue 1 by making a blistering start, dominating possession and beating Arsenal to the punch all over the field. It took the hosts ten minutes to fashion a chance, Theo Walcott forcing keeper Steve Mandanda into action, and from that point forward Arsenal took control of the half. Aaron Ramsey missed two glorious opportunities: firstly spooning over the bar after meeting Andre Santos' cross, then dallying on the ball when put clean through on Mandanda's goal as Marseille survived until the interval.

After Arsenal created a couple of half-chances at the beginning of the second period, the spark went out of the match and the tempo slackened - even after the introduction of Van Persie, who was benched in favour of Park Chu-Young.

Having failed to make an immediate impact, Van Persie sprang into life on 77 minutes, surging clean through before chipping straight into the grateful arms of Mandanda. The Gunners worked some promising positions in the closing stages but, as had been the case all night, passes went astray at crucial moments.

In the other Group F action, Kevin Grosskreutz was on target in Dortmund's 1-0 victory over Olympiakos. Arsenal top the group with eight points, one ahead of Marseille and four ahead of Dortmund, who are one in front of Olympiakos.

Apoel Nicosia remain top of Group G on eight points after beating FC Porto 2-1, while Zenit St Petersburg are one point behind after a 1-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.

In Group H, Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick as Barcelona guaranteed their place in the last 16 with a 4-0 win over ten-man Viktoria Plzen. AC Milan also go through - despite being held to a 1-1 draw by BATE Borisov.

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