• Champions League

Hart the hero as City rescue a point; Arsenal triumph

ESPN staff
October 3, 2012
Marco Reus netted Dortmund's opener © PA Photos
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Mario Balotelli stepped off the bench to rescue Manchester City's Champions League hopes after Jack Rodwell's error looked like giving Borussia Dortmund victory on Wednesday, while Arsenal are already looking good for the last-16 stage thanks to a less-than-impressive victory over Olympiakos.

Roberto Mancini's Manchester City side were fully aware of the importance of winning their home matches in a group featuring the English, Spanish, German and Dutch champions, and after an opening-day defeat to Real Madrid it was vital they overcame Dortmund at The Etihad.

Joe Hart made eight world class saves for City, but Rodwell left a square pass short on the hour for Marco Reus to score the opener. Dortmund looked set to hold on for a 1-0 victory with some ease, but a harsh penalty - given for handball - allowed Balotelli to equalise for a barely deserved 1-1 draw.

City almost led inside 25 seconds as Sergio Aguero made space for himself on the edge of the box, firing his shot too close to keeper Roman Weidenfeller. Pablo Zabaleta then had no excuses in the eighth minute, smashing wildly over on his left foot from close to the penalty spot after David Silva's sublime pass.

However, moments later City were lucky not to fall behind as Mario Gotze advanced from the right, forcing Hart to tip the ball onto the far upright for his first save of the night. Up the other end Silva continued to work his magic with another delightful slide-rule ball for Aguero, who shot tamely at the onrushing keeper as Balotelli and Carlos Tevez watched from the stands.

Mancini's plans were disrupted before half-time as Javi Garcia was forced off - replaced by Rodwell, and City were lucky to reach the break level after Hart firstly foiled Gotze at point-blank range and then tipped the same player's effort onto the bar. Silva then volleyed over at the other end, but Hart produced his fourth quality save of the half to deny Ilkay Gundogan on the stroke of the interval.

Another full-stretch dive from Hart chalked up his fifth notable contribution of the match in the second period, but he was finally beaten when Rodwell's blind pass was seized upon by Reus who ran clear to score. Dortmund weren't done though, with Hart spreading himself for save No. 6 and then getting fingertips to the ball for No. 7.

City had the chance to level when Aguero was sent through, opting to square the ball rather than shoot, but the better opportunities continued to fall Dortmund's way as Robert Lewandowski clipped wide. Then came the penalty call, given when Aguero fired at his Neven Subotic's arm from close range, and Balotelli stepped up to calmly send the keeper the wrong way in the 90th minute.

Real Madrid remain top of Group D after they beat Ajax 4-1 at the Amsterdam Arena. Victory leaves Madrid clear of Dortmund at the top, with Ajax bottom and City on a solitary point.

Lukas Podolski scored Arsenal's second © PA Photos
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The first half played host to one-way traffic as Madrid peppered the hosts' goal, taking their shots-on-target tally into double figures as keeper Kenneth Vermeer worked overtime. He was finally beaten moments before half-time as Cristiano Ronaldo clipped home the loose ball after good work by Karim Benzema.

Madrid needed only three minutes to double that lead in the second period, Benzema producing a fantastic overhead kick, but Ajax responded quickly through Niklas Moisander's header. Ronaldo finally killed the game off 11 minutes from time - curling into the far corner, before completing another Real Madrid hat-trick with a lovely chip.

Arsenal appear set for an easy ride into the competition's knockout stages after they made it six points from six with an unconvincing 3-1 triumph over Olympiakos at Emirates Stadium. Arsene Wenger, who completes 16 years in charge of Arsenal this week, saw his side overturn the Greeks thanks to goals from Gervinho, Lukas Podolski and Aaron Ramsey.

Mikel Arteta was deemed fit to start for the Gunners, but he failed to inspire a fast opening as Olympiakos created the most dangerous moment of the first half hour. Paulo Machado picked out a superbly paced pass to the edge of the Arsenal area, where Kostas Mitroglou scuffed a shot through a host of bodies to nearly surprise Vito Mannone.

Machado then threatened again when he headed over from the edge of the six-yard box, but Gervinho struck against the run of play when he drove a tame effort home from outside the area. Arsenal's joy was short-lived though, as Mitroglou found himself in between Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen to head beyond Mannone.

Santi Cazorla should have restored the advantage early in the second half when he stabbed his effort wide from Gervinho's cross, but the next time Gervinho caused havoc Podolski - who had barely featured all evening, swivelled and shot through keeper Balazs Megyeri in the 56th minute. Ramsey then capped off the win in injury-time.

Karim Benzema scored a super overhead kick © PA Photos
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Arsenal may already be turning thoughts towards winning Group B - rather than merely qualifying, after Schalke drew 2-2 with Montpellier to fall behind the Gunners at the top of the table.

Schalke started the better, but it was the visitors who took the lead as Karim Ait-Fana curled the ball into the far corner from just outside the area on 13 minutes. On 26 minutes, Schalke were level as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar played an intelligent pass through to Julian Draxler, who took the ball around goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren before rolling into the empty net.

The game looked to have turned in Schalke's favour early in the second half when Draxler, after a fine run into the area, was fouled by Garry Bocaly. The defender was dismissed and Huntelaar made no mistake from the penalty spot. However, Souleymane Camara equalised in the 90th minute to give the Ligue 1 champions a share of the spoils.

In Group C, Zenit St Petersburg's 16-match unbeaten home run in European competition came to an end in a 3-2 loss to AC Milan. Urby Emanuelson opened the scoring with a deflected free-kick, before Manchester United target Stephan El Shaaraway added a superb solo second.

Hulk and Roman Shirokov levelled things up for the home side, but they were flattened 14 minutes from time by Tomas Hubocan's own goal.

Malaga remain Group C's governors after they extended their 100 per cent record with a 3-0 win at Anderlecht. Pereira Eliseu(2) and Sanchez Joaquin supplied the goals for the Spanish outfit.

And in Group A, Porto's top-of-the-table clash against PSG ended 1-0 to the hosts after a late strike from James Rodriguez. Victory sees the Portuguese side top the table on six points. The hosts looked the stronger side and took a deserved lead on 83 minutes, with Rodriguez providing a fine finish, and PSG were unable to respond.

The night's other match saw Dynamo Kiev defeat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 thanks to Oleg Gusev and a Josip Pivaric own goal, leaving them level with PSG in second spot.

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