Magic Touch

Barcelona 2-0 Dynamo Kiev

Barcelona made it four points from two games in their Champions League group after confidently seeing off Dynamo Kiev.

Lionel Messi put the Catalan giants on their way with the opening goal in the 26th minute before half-time substitute Pedro Rodriguez sealed a fairly comfortable victory with Barca's second 14 minutes from time.

Pep Guardiola's side, who drew 0-0 with Inter Milan in their opening match, now take over the Group F leadership from Dynamo, who beat Rubin Kazan 3-1 first time out but were outclassed tonight.

Barca led 1-0 at the break, but they should have been out of sight by that point after creating a series of chances that saw Dynamo goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy working over time.

Dynamo gave as good as they got in the opening stages but Barca soon started to dominate possession and territory and they made the breakthrough in the 25th minute.

Ibrahimovic was the outstanding player of the first half, but it was Messi who put Barca ahead as he picked up a good pass from Xavi, cut inside Leandro Almeida before rifling a low shot past Shovkovskiy.

Shovkovskiy will probably feel he could have done more with the effort as the ball squirmed under him, even though Messi's effort was well struck.

That goal was the catalyst for a sustained period of Barca pressure that saw the treble winners create at least four very good opportunities.

The first saw Messi denied by the onrushing Shovkovskiy in the 27th minute following a brilliant Ibrahimovic backheel, while five minutes later the Dynamo goalkeeper did well again to race out any deny Ibrahimovic after Xavi's perfectly-weighted pass had put the Sweden international clear.

Xavi then saw two of his own efforts saved by the busy Shovkovskiy as Guardiola's men continued to dominate.

The hosts almost suffered a surprise setback just before half-time when, against the run of play, Dynamo got the ball into the back of the Barca net following a rare foray forward.

However, Ognjen Vukojevic's celebrations were cut short due to an infringement and Barca could breathe again.

And it was back to business as usual soon after that as Shovkovskiy was again called upon on the stroke of half-time to make a crucial double save to deny Messi when one-on-one and then tip over Ibrahimovic's acrobatic volley from the rebound.

If anything, Barca were even more dominant after the break, although they found clear-cut chances harder to come by as Dynamo packed their defence.

On thing that did not change was the massive contributions of Ibrahimovic and Shovkovskiy for their respective sides.

Ibrahimovic twice tested Shovkovskiy, the first with a header and then with a low shot that the Dynamo stopper did superbly to push away one-handed, before the former Inter Milan hitman turned provider to help Barca finally get the two-goal cushion they were desperately seeking.

Ibrahimovic's low pass into the area found Pedro, and he controlled the ball, shifted it onto his left foot and slotted a low shot just inside the far post.

That was enough to guarantee the points would be staying at the Nou Camp, although Dynamo almost set a few hearts fluttering in the 87th minute when captain Artem Milevskiy's lob landed on the roof of the net after latching onto a poor headed back-pass by Sergio Busquets.

Source: http://www.espnstar.com/football/champions-league/news/detail/item331326/Barcelona-2-0-Dynamo-Kiev/

Excellence

Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos

Arsenal maintained their 100% record in Champions League Group H with a 2-0 win over Olympiacos at Emirates Stadium.

Arsene Wenger will later this week become the longest-serving manager in the history of Arsenal, whom he openly admits were a "bit crazy" to take the gamble on his appointment some 13 seasons ago.

Time has, of course, since proved that judgement more than sound - but the burning desire to bring more success to Emirates Stadium remains as strong as ever for Wenger and his young side.

The Greek champions, now managed by Brazil legend Zico, had goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis to thank for preventing Arsenal chalking up a big score in a one-sided contest.

However, they were eventually undone with 12 minutes to go when substitute Eduardo set up Robin van Persie before Andrey Arshavin made sure of the win when he netted a cheeky backheel, which had more than a hint of offside.

Arsenal had opened their European campaign away to Standard Liege - where they trailed 2-0 inside five minutes before battling back to a morale-boosting victory.

The Gunners, though, showed no signs of any such repeat tonight as Olympiacos were immediately pushed onto the defensive.

Full-back Gael Clichy, who came through the Arsenal youth ranks under the watchful eye of Wenger, broke down the left and cut the ball across for Arshavin, whose sidefoot shot was gathered by Nikopolidis in a sign of things to come for the Greek keeper.

On 16 minutes, captain Cesc Fabregas rattled the crossbar from 18 yards, with Nikopolidis then producing a fine reaction save to keep out Thomas Rosicky's fierce angled drive.

Olympiacos sat deep and Arshavin tested Nikopolidis again before William Gallas almost connected with Van Persie's corner.

Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone - outstanding in the 1-0 Barclays Premier League win over Fulham on Saturday - finally had something to do after 34 minutes when he comfortably collected a header from Vassilis Torosidis.

Olympiacos skipper Nikopolidis was having a busy night, as he had to touch behind a deep, inswinging free-kick from Fabregas.

Abou Diaby, eight yards out, headed wide following the corner.

Arsenal were almost made to pay for not taking their chances at the start of the second half when former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg headed a corner down towards the near post - which Mannone parried.

From the quick counter-attack, Van Persie forced Nikopolidis to make another good save, before picking up a yellow card when he clattered into defender Michal Zewlakow chasing the loose ball.

As the hour mark passed, Arsenal maintained their pressure.

Centre-back Thomas Vermaelen - the top scorer so far with four goals - just failed to direct his far-post header on target following Van Persie's deep free-kick.

Wenger made a change with 24 minutes left when he introduced Eduardo - free to play after UEFA's two-match diving ban was overturned on appeal - for Rosicky.

Olympiacos continued to sit back and invite pressure, but all too often Arsenal's final delivery was poor, much to the frustration of the Emirates Stadium faithful.

Arshavin turned quickly to release Van Persie into the left side of the penalty area.

His angled drive was blocked by Nikopolidis but Gallas could not get the rebound out from under his feet, as the keeper once again denied Arsenal, although the assistant's flag was raised anyway.

Nikopolidis was inspired as he saved at full stretch from Diaby, before the midfielder was replaced by Carlos Vela - a move to inject some pace into the attack.

The goal finally came on 78 minutes, when Eduardo darted into the box to collect Fabregas' pass, before cutting the ball back to Van Persie, who this time swept it into the net.

Arshavin made sure of the result when he backheeled in Fabregas' low centre, despite looking suspiciously offside.

While there is still much work to do before this side can genuinely claim to live with those built around Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, Wenger's young Gunners continue to give the wise old manager reason to be positive for the future.

Source: http://www.espnstar.com/football/champions-league/news/detail/item331321/Arsenal-2-0-Olympiacos/

Arsenal vs mitsubishi

Adakah kemantapan pengendalian pasukan Arsenal sama seperti mengendali sebuah mitsubishi lancer ini. Bukan sahaja dari segi luaran / rekabentuk tetapi ketahanan dan kemampuan enjin yg jitu mampu untuk meningkatkan prestasi dalam jangka panjang.

Prestasi membanggakan

Dua jaringan dari van persie dan arshavin membolehkan arsenal berjaya menewaskan olympiakos 2-0. Persembahan yang begitu membanggakan walaupun terlepas banyak peluang menjaringkan gol. Arsenal perlu memperkemaskan lagi jentera serangan.