Champion League 2007/08

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Group B leaders Chelsea rode their luck to escape with a goalless draw away to Schalke 04 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Schalke, who had dominated throughout, came within a whisker of taking all three points when Peter Lovenkrands raced clear on the left and smacked a shot against the left-hand post of substitute keeper Carlo Cudicini in the dying moments.

The result meant Chelsea stayed top with eight points, one ahead of Rosenborg Trondheim who beat Valencia 2-0. Schalke climbed to third on four points, still with hopes of qualifying.

"It was not a bad result but not our best game," Chelsea coach Avram Grant told a news conference. "We are in first place and everything is in our hands. I am very happy and confident about that."

Chelsea went into the game on a run of seven successive victories but they needed two fine saves from Petr Cech in the first half and Schalke came even closer after the Czech had been replaced at halftime with a calf injury.

They almost went ahead when Rafinha hit the top of the bar in the 73rd minute and had Lovenkrands scored with his heart-stopping late chance it would have been well deserved.

"Luck was not on our side," Schalke coach Mirko Slomka said. "We were a constant threat to Chelsea, we didn't let them get forward and we had a lot of chances."

CHELSEA TROUBLE

The best of the bunch was the Schalke full back Westermann, who caused Chelsea no end of problems down the left.

In the 19th minute he tested Petr Cech for the first time, sending a shot that bounced awkwardly in front of the keeper, who could only turn the ball round the post.

Four minutes later Westermann was at it again. This time he broke forward like Franz Beckenbauer, beat two challenges and cracked in a shot that Cech had to push over the bar.

Chelsea looked anything but comfortable but they still gave the home side a couple of nervous moments.

In the sixth minute a bad mistake from Bordon led to Drogba finding space in the penalty area and his shot brought a sharp save, low to his right, from Manuel Neuer.

Three minutes before the break Drogba had an even better chance when Frank Lampard played him through on goal, forcing Neuer to come out and block again.

A short corner at the start of the second half almost gave Schalke the breakthrough as Ivan Rakitic looked to surprise Cudicini at his near post.

Rafinha should have brought them an opening goal when Cudicini was unable to reach a cross. The Brazilian took his time but a deft finish just took too long to come down.

The English side did create a couple of late chances on the break but Schalke continued to look far more dangerous and they were almost rewarded at the death.

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Two goals from Steffen Iversen spoiled Ronald Koeman's debut on the bench for Valencia and earned Rosenborg Trondheim a well-deserved 2-0 away win in Champions League Group B on Tuesday.

Koeman took charge of the team for the first time only on Monday, following last week's sacking of Quique Sanchez Flores and watched his side fall behind to a 31st-minute strike from Iversen.

The Norwegians, who beat Valencia by the same margin two weeks ago in Trondheim, were always threatening and Iversen headed a second early in the second half.

Rosenborg's victory, only their second success in 21 games on the road in the competition, put them in a strong position to qualify from the group where they trail leaders Chelsea by one point.

Valencia are bottom with three points, one behind Schalke 04 and four adrift of Rosenborg.

"Rosenborg played very well and deserved to win," said new coach Trond Henriksen, who replaced Knut Torum after the team's previous win over Valencia.

"I'm very proud to be Rosenborg coach. We showed that we are a Champions League team."

"I wasn't impressed with Valencia, they were rather timid. They needed to be more courageous." The visitors comfortably contained Valencia in an opening period short on chances and showed plenty of threat breaking forward when the home side's attacks broke down.

Iversen had already struck the outside of the post with a volley from a tight angle, when he stole the opener on a counter-attack.

FIRING HOME

After a swift passing move through midfield, Marek Sapara played Iversen into the area, where he turned his marker to fire in off the near post.

After the goal, Rosenborg keeper Lars Hirschfeld twice denied David Villa before the break, but the visitors did not sit on their lead.

Striker Yssouf Kone went close with a far post header in the 33rd minute and in the 58th, Valencia's problems with the high ball were exposed again.

Timo Hildrebrand missed his punch at a corner and Iversen was able to head into an empty net.

When Kone hit the post in the 72nd minute, after a knockdown from Iversen was palmed into his path by Hildebrand, the home fans whistled their disapproval.

That grew to a crescendo at the end after Hildebrand just managed to prevent Kone adding a third with a fingertip save.

"I can understand why the crowd were angry," said Koeman. "With this result, qualification for the next round is going to be very difficult for us although anything is possible in football.

"We've got a lot to improve."

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Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 21 years in charge at Old Trafford by leading Manchester United into the knockout stages of the Champions' League quicker than ever before after beating Dynamo Kiev 4-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

United's easy win over Kiev, who they had already beaten away, took them safely through with two qualifying matches still to be played.

With Sporting Lisbon drawing 2-2 with Roma, there were celebrations at the final whistle in Manchester when it became clear that future league matches against both sides were now irrelevant.

Jubilant Ferguson said: "I am very pleased with that. Kiev adopted a man-marking system and that caused us some problems in the first half because they did it efficiently.

"We got a break with the first goal and that opened it up for us. We got a terrific second goal and were able to relax a bit more after that.

"We had some great chances and could have scored more. We may have qualified already but it is important that we go on and win the group."

Having already disposed of the Ukranians 4-2 on their own pitch, there was never much doubt United would complete the double. It was just a question of by how many.

United had to wait until the 31st minute before the deadlock was broken and there was an element of luck about the first senior goal of Gerard Pique's career.

The 20-year-old Spaniard got the benefit of a ricochet off the back of Carlos Tevez's head but by then United were already in control.

Tevez and Wayne Rooney were again in irresistible form, carving open the bemused Kiev defence almost at will so that it was a surprise that United scored only once more before the break.

Tevez, beginning the move from his own half, raced on to Rooney's return pass to score the second in the 37th minute.

Kiev did their best to stem the tide but there was no stopping United as they surged to their eighth successive Champions' League match. It was February 2005 when they last lost in the competition at Old Trafford.

Shots rained in from all angles as Rooney, Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo took command but somehow Kiev held out until the 76th minute before being breached again.

This time it was the precocious young talent of Nani who set up the goal and Rooney made a difficult volley look easy when he converted the Brazilian's cross from ten yards.

The statistics showed that United fired in 25 shots at the beleagured Ukranians and almost the last of those provided Ronaldo with his seventh Champions' League goal of the season.

Kiev were as clearly pleased as United to hear the final whistle but for different reasons. They had been heavily beaten despite playing some attractive football.

United gave chances to youngsters Pique, Danny Simpson and Jonny Evans and Ferguson felt they had all contributed.

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Arsene Wenger celebrated his 100th match as a manager in the Champions League by qualifying for the knock-out stages after his side played out a goalless draw at Slavia Prague on Wednesday.

Arsenal were second best throughout the match and were lucky to draw with the team they put seven past at the Emirates two weeks ago.

Wenger said: " We were solid at the back and we were good in such difficult conditions with the wind and rain.

"It is hard because they were humiliated in the first game so they made it very hard for us and battled all night.

"We can create more going forward and it was disappointing to not create so many chances as we usually do but I am happy we have qualified for the next stage so early.

"Almunia got over a difficult week and kept us in the game with a fine save which was good for his confidence.

"We are learning as a team all the time and getting better and more experienced."

Mickael Tavares headed over when he should have hit the target and the lively Zdenek Senkerik was unlucky when he cut inside and forced Manuel Almunia to tip over.

Senkerik was again denied by the impressive Almunia late on as Arsenal ensured progression.

The Gunners went into the game needing they only needed a draw to go through and boss Wenger clearly thought the job was already done by picking a much-changed line-up.

He made eight changes from the team that drew 2-2 with Manchester United on Saturday.

They played like a side with little to worry about, as they gave the ball away and looked content to let Slavia play at their own pace.

The hosts lacked the quality to punish them and more often than not their final ball let them down. Slavia's first chance came when Daniel Pudil swung over a corner and Tavares was left unmarked six yards out, the Frenchman wastefully heading over.

Lone striker Senkerik looked a threat with his pace and he accelerated sharply to cut in from the right and fire a shot goalwards but Almunia did well to tip over.

The interval brought with it a rainstorm in Prague and the game sprang to life after the break.

Senkerik fell in the box with Lassana Diarra, but referee Bertrand Layec waved Slavia's appeals away, before Nicklas Bendtner had a shot blocked by Erich Brabec.

Suddenly the tackles were flying in and the crowd were lifted as Slavia attacked sensing a famous victory in their first year in the Champions League.

Brabec latched onto a free-kick only to head straight at Almunia, before David Hubacek slammed over from nearly 30 yards. When a ball over the top caught out the Arsenal defence and sent Senkerik clean through, it seemed certain that the deadlock would be broken.

But as the striker coolly lifted the ball goalwards from 18 yards Almunia raced from his line to deny Slavia once more and put his team in the last 16.

The match was Arsenal's 26th without defeat, but the first time they failed to score this season.

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Olympique Lyon kept alive their hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout phase by eliminating VfB Stuttgart with a 4-2 home victory on Wednesday.

Lyon, who had lost their two opening games, are third in Group E with six points from four games, one point behind second-placed Rangers after the Scottish side lost 2-0 at leaders Barcelona. Stuttgart have no points.

"We knew that it would be difficult against such a side, who attack a lot," said Lyon coach Alain Perrin.

"When we were at 3-2, we did not really know what to do, we did not know wether we had to keep pushing or sit back."

The home side made a bright start with Hatem Ben Arfa, perfectly set up by Kim Kallstrom, opening the scoring in the sixth minute at the conclusion of a swift movement.

Swedish midfielder Kallstrom doubled the tally on 15 minutes when he fired home a Sidney Govou cross from the right.

Stuttgart, who have won their last two Bundesliga games after a poor start to the season, reacted strongly a minute later.

PENALTY SAVE

Lyon goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre parried away a Thomas Hitzlsperger shot only for striker Mario Gomez, following up, to poke the ball into the empty net.

Perrin's side, however, maintained control and made it 3-1 eight minutes before the interval. France midfielder Ben Arfa sold the Stuttgart defence a dummy before firing past Raphael Schaefer. The German champions stepped up a gear in the second half and narrowed the gap on 56 minutes when Gomez connected with an Andreas Beck cross to score his second.

Four minutes later, Russian referee Yuri Baskakov awarded the visitors a penalty following an Anthony Reveillere challenge on Gomez but Vercoutre dived to his left to save Hitzlsperger's spot kick.

"That was the turning point of the game," said Stuttgart coach Armin Veh. "But the most disappointing thing is that we did not defend well."

Lyon were dominated in the final minutes but Juninho wrapped up the victory with a goal from close range three minutes into stoppage time.

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Manchester United and Arsenal became the first teams to reach the second round of the Champions League on Wednesday.

United overpowered Dynamo Kiev 4-0 at Old Trafford and then advanced because AS Roma tied Sporting Lisbon 2-2 in another Group F game. United scored four goals against Dynamo for the second straight game.

Before a crowd of 75,000, Man United had goals from Gerard Pique in the 31st minute, Carlos Tevez in the 37th, Wayne Rooney in the 76th and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 87th. Rooney has seven goals in eight games.

"It was a perfect result and gets us into the next stage so we must be very pleased with that," United manager Alex Ferguson said.

Arsenal, the 2006 runner-up, needed only a point to advance. It played to a 0-0 tie in Group H at Slavia Prague, the team it routed 7-0 two weeks ago.

Arsenal, even with Manchester United in the Premier League, is guaranteed a spot in the last 16 although the Gunners can be caught for the top spot in its group by Sevilla, which beat Steaua Bucharest 2-0 on two goals by Renato. Arsenal has 10 points from four games, while Sevilla has nine and Slavia four.

"The result is quite positive because we qualified," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who rested six of his regular starters. "The defensive performance was good, the offensive performance was average."

Inter Milan overturned a two-goal deficit to beat CSKA Moscow 4-2, and Fenerbahce of Turkey downed PSV Eindhoven 2-0 in Group G.

FC Barcelona stayed at the top of Group E by defeat Rangers 2-0 with goals by Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi, although the first goal appeared to go in off the France striker's elbow.

"They (Rangers) came here only to defend," Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said. "We did our job. Congratulations to the players. We took a step forward."

Barcelona has a three-point lead over Rangers with French champion Lyon still in contention after beating Stuttgart 4-2, with Hatem Ben Arfa scoring twice. Lyon, which hosts Barcelona in the next round of games Nov. 27, is a point behind Rangers.

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Goals from Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi earned Barcelona a 2-0 win over outclassed Rangers in their Champions League Group E match at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.

Former Arsenal striker Henry put Barca ahead in the sixth minute when he bundled the ball in at the far post with a little help from his arm. Messi also pounced just before the break after Ronaldinho had sliced through the Scottish team's defence.

The win left the Catalans firmly in control of the group with 10 points from four games.

Rangers remain second with seven points, one ahead of Olympique Lyon, despite suffering their first defeat. Walter Smith's men are assured of at least a place in the UEFA Cup.

"This was a game we could have won 5-0 or 6-0," Barca coach Frank Rijkaard told a news conference.

"But in general I'm very happy with the result. This was an important step forward."

Smith was philosophical about the defeat.

"We're always disappointed to lose but we can't have any complaints given the way the game went," he said.

"We are delighted we will be playing European football after Christmas, given how hard this group was."

Rangers had never won in Spain against Spanish opposition and that did not look like changing once Barcelona had taken the lead after Ronaldinho picked out the unmarked Messi in the area with a clever lofted pass.

The Argentine headed across the face of the goal towards the far post where the sliding Henry scored.

Barca almost extended their lead when midfielder Andres Iniesta skimmed the post with a curling shot after Messi had surged towards the Rangers area.

REFLEX SAVE

Ronaldinho went even closer when he turned and shot from the edge of the area but keeper Allan McGregor produced a great one-handed reflex save to tip the ball over the bar.

It was only a matter of time before Barca claimed their second.

Ronaldinho exchanged a lightning one-two with Messi on the edge of the area, had a toe-poke shot blocked by McGregor and the Argentine was on hand to side-foot into the net.

It was one-way traffic after that with Barca passing the ball around at leisure, pinning Rangers back and only failing to extend their advantage because of fine goalkeeping by McGregor.

Xavi went close with a searing shot that took a deflection at the start of the second half and Messi was denied by McGregor's foot after he nutmegged David Weir.

Rangers's only chances came in the closing minutes, Jean-Claude Darcheville having a powerful free kick saved by Victor Valdes and Nacho Novo striking a well-timed volley at the Barca keeper.

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باشگاه فوتبال منچستريونايتد انگليس پس از آشوب*هاي اخير در ايتاليا، به هوادارانش اجازه داد، سفر خود را به رم براي ديدار ماه آينده اين تيم در جام قهرمانان باشگاه*هاي اروپا لغو كنند.

به گزارش خبرگزاري آسوشيتدپرس از منچستر، بر همين اساس هواداران منچستريونايتد تا روز اول دسامبر فرصت دارند در اين*باره تصميم بگيرند.

باشگاه منچستريوناتيد در اين*باره اعلام كرد: در هر مسابقه جام قهرمانان اروپا هواداران براي مدتي قبل از مسابقه فرصت دارند كه سفر خود را لغو كنند. ما برنامه خود را براي ديدار با آاس رم تغيير نمي*دهيم مگر اينكه به ما توصيه شود چنين كاري را انجام دهيم.

پس از اينكه پليس يكي از هواداران باشگاه لاتزيو را به ضرب گلوله به قتل رساند، هواداران اين باشگاه به ايستگاه*هاي پليس اين كشور حمله كردند.

منچستريونايتد و رم فصل گذشته نيز در مرحله يك چهارم نهايي جام باشگاه*هاي اروپا با هم روبه*رو شدند كه اين بازي به سود منچستر خاتمه يافت.

قبل از مسابقه رفت دو تيم در آن مرحله، تعدادي از هواداران منچستر يونايتد توسط طرفداران تيم رم به ضرب چاقو مجروح شدند.

در داخل ورزشگاه نيز پليس ضد شورش ايتاليا با هواداران انگليسي درگير شد.

درگيري*هاي مسابقه رفت به مسابقه برگشت هم كشيده شد به طوريكه هواداران دو تيم خارج از ورزشگاه اولدترافورد به ضد و خورد پرداختند.

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مرحله گروهي رقابتهاي فوتبال جام قهرمانان باشگاه*هاي اروپا، فردا چهارشنبه، با انجام هشت ديدار از گروه*هاي اول تا چهارم، پيگيري مي*شود.

به گزارش خبرگزاري فرانسه، برنامه اين ديدارها به اين شرح است:
گروه اول:
بشيكتاش - مارسي
ليورپول - پورتو
گروه دوم:
روزنبرگ - چلسي
والنسيا - شالكه
گروه سوم:
وردربرمن - رئال مادريد
لاتزيو - المپياكوس
گروه چهارم:
بنفيكا - آث ميلان
سلتيك گلاسكو - شاختار دونتسك

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Barcelona reached the knockout phase of the Champions League with a 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyon on Tuesday.

The 2006 champions, who have 11 points from five matches, also secured top place in Group E after Rangers lost 3-2 way to bottom-placed VfB Stuttgart.

Rangers and Lyon will battle it out for the group's other berth in last 16 in two weeks time at Hampden Park with a draw enough to see the Scottish side through.

"We still have our destiny in our hands so we believe in our chances," Lyon captain Juninho told reporters.

"We played better than them and I think we could have won this game," Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard told reporters.

"Our goal was to qualify and finish top of the group. It is the case so we are satisfied."

Lyon fell behind after only three minutes when Andres Iniesta connected with a Bojan Krkic cross from the right to score with a low shot from the centre of the box.

The hosts levelled four minutes later when Juninho's 40-metre free kick became the first goal conceded by Barcelona in this season's competition.

The Brazilian midfielder came close to a second on the half hour when his attempt was cleared off the line by Eric Abidal, his former team mate.

Barcelona, who were without the injured Thierry Henry and with Ronaldinho on the substitutes bench, were clearly the better side.

With Xavi a brilliant playmaker, they had a firm grip on the midfield, forcing Lyon's Fabio Santos to commit numerous fouls to slow the pace.

Rijkaard, who appeared outraged after a rough challenge by the Lyon midfielder on Lionel Messi, was sent from the dugout just before the interval by Italian referee Stefano Farina.

The Spanish side went ahead again shortly before the hour when Messi converted a penalty after being brought down by Sebastien Squillaci.

However, Juninho netted his second goal from a penalty 10 minutes from time after an Eric Abidal foul on second-half substitute Abdulkader Keita.

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Internazionale of Milan, AS Roma and Sevilla advanced to the second round of the European Champions League with victories Tuesday night and Barcelona gained a berth in the final 16 with a tie.

Inter (4-1) won 3-0 over visiting Fenerbahce (2-1-2) on goals by Julio Ricardo Cruz, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Jimenez to clinch first place in Group G. PSV Eindhoven (2-2-1), which is third, won 1-0 at CSKA Moscow (0-4-1) on a 39th-minute goal by Jefferson Farfan.

Roma (3-1-1) won 4-1 at Dynamo Kiev (0-5) and earned second place in Group F as Mirko Vucinic scored twice following goals by Christian Panucci and Ludovic Giuly. Ismael Bangoura scored for Dynamo.

Manchester United (5-0), the only team with a perfect record, already had clinched advancement and assured itself of first place in Group F with a 2-1 victory over visiting Sporting Lisbon (1-3-1). Carlos Tevez scored off a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 62nd minute and Ronaldo got a goal on a free kick in injury time. Fernando Abel had put Sporting ahead in the 22nd minute.

"It was a fabulous goal, I think," Ronaldo said. "I'm very happy, not just because I scored, but because of the win."

Sevilla (4-1) won 3-1 over visiting Arsenal (3-1-1), which already had clinched a berth in Group H. After Eduardo da Silva had put the Londoners ahead in the 11th minute, Sevilla got goals from Seydou Keita (24th minute), Luis Fabiano (34th) and Frederic Kanoute (89th-minute penalty kick).

"It was a magnificent performance by the team," Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez said. "To come back from a goal down against a team that's top of the Premier League is something important, and I hope we can continue to show the same type of attitude."

In the other Group H game, Zdenek Senkerik scored a late equalizer to give Slavia Prague (1-2-2) a 1-1 tie at Steaua Bucharest (0-4-1), which got a goal from Valentin Badea.

Barcelona (3-0-2) clinched first in Group E with a 2-2 tie at Lyon (2-2-1). Andres Iniesta scored in the third minute and Lionel Messi converted a penalty kick in the 58th for Barcelona, which Lyon got two goals from Juninho, on a free kick in the seventh and a penalty kick in the 79th.

Stuttgart (1-4) won 3-2 at home against Glasgow Rangers (2-2-1). getting goals from Cacau (first-half injury time), Pavel Pardo (62nd) and Ciprian Marica (85th). Charles Adam scored for Rangers in the 27th after DaMarcus Beasley's corner kick was headed down by Carlos Cuellar, and Barry Ferguson got a goal in the 70th.

Defending champion AC Milan, Chelsea, Porto and Real Madrid can clinch advancement Wednesday.

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Defending champion AC Milan moved into the second round of the European Champion League with a 1-1 tie at Benfica on Wednesday night, and Chelsea advanced with a 4-0 victory at Rosenborg.

Two other qualifying groups are wide open, however, and half of the 16-team field for the second round won't be decided until the final games.

Liverpool eased some of the pressure on coach Rafa Benitez with a 4-1 victory over Porto, and nine-time champion Real Madrid hurt its chances with a 3-2 loss at Werder Bremen.

Arsenal, Barcelona, Internazionale of Milan, Manchester United, AS Roma and Sevilla also have clinched berths.

Andrea Pirlo's long-range shot put Milan ahead in the 15th minute in Lisbon, but Maxi Pereira tied the score in the 20th. Milan still went through because Celtic scored a last-minute goal to beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in Glasgow.

Brandao gave Shakhtar the lead in the fourth minute, but Jiri Jarosik leveled for Celtic a minute before halftime and Massimo Donati scored the winning goal in the first minute of injury time.

Milan (3-1-1) leads the group with 10 points and next faces Celtic (3-2), which has nine. Shakhtar (2-3) has six points and hosts Benfica (1-1-3), which already has been eliminated.

Didier Drogba scored the first two of Chelsea's goals at Rosenborg, giving the Blues (3-0-2) 11 points. Rosenborg (2-2-1) remained second with seven points because Schalke and Valencia tied 0-0

Schalke (1-2-2), which hosts Rosenborg (2-2-1) next week, has five points and Valencia (1-3-1), which visits Chelsea, has four.

Madrid trailed 3-1 at Werder Bremen after goals by Markus Rosenberg, Boubacar Sanogo and Aaron Hunt. Robinho replied for the Spanish champions in the 14th and Ruud van Nistelrooy added a second in the 72nd.

Madrid and Olympiakos (both 2-1-2) have eight points, with the Greek team winning 2-1 at Lazio (1-2-2), which has five. Goran Pandev put Lazio ahead, although the ball appeared to have gone out before the preceding cross. Luciano Galletti and Darko Kovacevic then scored for the visitors.

Fernando Torres scored twice for Liverpool at Anfield, where Reds fans staged a march to support Benitez, who appears to be pressuring owners George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks to increase funding for player transfers.

After going winless in its first three Group A games, Liverpool (2-2-1) has seven points, equal with Olympique Marseille and one point behind Porto (2-1-2). Besiktas (2-3), which beat Marseille 2-1, has six.

Marseille hosts Liverpool in two weeks, and Porto is at home against Besiktas.

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Spain striker Fernando Torres scored twice as Liverpool beat Porto 4-1 to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday.

Torres opened the scoring in the 19th minute at Anfield, but his side were pegged back when Porto's Lisandro Lopez sent a header past keeper Pepe Reina in the 33rd minute.

Liverpool had to be patient before scoring three goals in the last 12 minutes, with Torres getting his second of the night, captain Steven Gerrard converting a penalty and substitute Peter Crouch nodding home with three minutes left.

Rafael Benitez's team had previously looked on the verge of going out of the competition after picking up just one point from their opening three games in Group A.

But back-to-back wins over Besiktas and Porto mean that Liverpool now need to beat Olympique Marseille away in their final match to reach the last 16.

Third in the group, Benitez's side are level on seven points with second-placed Marseille, who lost 2-1 at Besiktas, and a point behind Porto.

Wednesday's win also eased some of the pressure on Benitez, who has recently been at odds with the club's American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

Torres handed the home side a perfect start by heading in Gerrard's corner as Porto defender Bruno Alves was caught ball watching.

Porto produced a surprise equaliser though when Przemyslaw Kazmierczak's 33rd minute cross cleared defender Alvaro Arbeloa and Lopez headed past Reina from close range.

The Portuguese league leaders wasted two chances to take a lead as Liverpool appeared to be rattled as halftime approached.

Gerrard's blind backpass allowed Ricardo Quaresma to race through on goal and his delay allowed defender Steve Finnan to get back and tackle.

Lucho Gonzalez then lifted the ball over the Liverpool defence, only for Lopez to hook his effort wide with just Reina to beat.

KEWELL DIFFERENCE

Liverpool sent on Crouch with 20 minutes left but it was fellow substitute Harry Kewell who made the difference.

The Australian midfielder carried the ball from the halfway line in the 78th minute and found Torres in the area, with the Spaniard then spinning away from his marker to angle a shot into the corner of the net.

Milan Stepanov handled a Gerrard free kick under a challenge by Sami Hyypia in 84th minute and the Liverpool captain converted the spot kick.

To the delight of the home crowd, there was still enough time for Crouch to nod in a Gerrard corner with keeper Helton at fault.

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Filippo Inzaghi broke the European goal-scoring record as AC Milan defeated Celtic 1-0 though defeat was sweetened for the Scottish side as they qualified for the Champions League knock-out stages in any case here on Tuesday.

It was the perfect scenario for all involved as Milan won, topped the group, Inzaghi made history in beating Gerd Muller's mark with his 63rd strike, and Celtic played gamely while sneaking through to the second round for the second year in a row.

That was thanks to Shakhtar Donetsk's 2-1 home defeat to Benfica in the other group D match.

At times the match resembled a training ground run-out but it finally sparked into life in the second period, culminating with Inzaghi's winning strike 20 minutes from time.

And it was a flowing move that set it up, Kaka breaking down the right and feeding the overlapping Cafu who crossed for Inzaghi to score his meat and drink, a tap-in from inside the six-yard box.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti had vowed on Monday to play his "strongest possible side" but that proved to be pie in the sky as he changed his entire back five.

Even so, there were six World Cup winners in his starting 11, but that didn't stop the first half resembling a local Sunday pub league kick-around.

Given that a draw suited both sides, neither team seemed too keen to commit men forward, particularly Celtic.

At one point right-back Gary Caldwell moved over the half-way line with the ball and acres of space in front of him, only to panic, turn around and start heading back towards his own goal in search of a team-mate.

No-one was playing well but he was having a particular shocker, at one point running the ball straight off the sideline.

Clarence Seedorf came closest to breaking the deadlock a minute from the break but blazed his shot from inside the box high and wide.

Something was clearly said at half-time as both sides came out with a bit more urgency for the second period.

Within three minutes of the restart, the European champions had twice come closer to scoring than in the entire first 45 minutes.

Andrea Pirlo hit a wicked, swerving free-kick just inches past the post and then Inzaghi latched onto a ricochet from a Kaka shot, only to be forced wide by Stephen McManus before screwing his shot past the upright.

Up the other end Scott Brown broke clear and latched onto a long punt forward but his volleyed finish from inside the area was unimpressive.

It was turning into a real match with Milan camped out on the edge of the Celtic box. Caldwell redeemed himself on 58 minutes, flinging his body in the way of a fierce Seedorf shot before Inzaghi missed a sitter.

A minute later, and with Celtic's defence in disarray, Giuseppe Favalli crossed past Artur Boruc in the Celtic goal for Inzaghi, five yards out at the back post with an open goal to aim at.

Shockingly, he managed to direct his header into Boruc's arms, even though the keeper was actually behind him.

That would be quickly forgotten, though, as the Italian turned from villain to hero.

Milan dominated the closing stages with Boruc making a stunning double save from Cristian Brocchi and Inzaghi nine minutes from time.

Brown did force a late save from Australian goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac but Celtic never really looked like scoring.

Kaka should have added an injury time second but substitute Evander Sno blocked his effort.

For Celtic, it was their 15th defeat in 16 Champions League group stage away matches - a sorry statistic but one that no-one cared about at the final whistle.

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Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was pleased to reach the Champions League last 16 for the second successive season but was upset with his side's performance.

Celtic lost 1-0 at Group D winners AC Milan on Tuesday but still qualified after Shakhtar Donetsk, who needed a victory, were beaten 2-1 at home by Benfica.

"You probably don't want my thoughts on the game so I'll go on to one of the most enjoyable parts -- the fact we are through," Strachan jokingly told a news conference.

"We'll go back to the hotel and enjoy it but we must do better away from home. There are one or two negatives I'm desperate to sort out."

Celtic have an awful away record in the Champions League, losing 15 of 16 matches and drawing just once.

The Scottish champions barely threatened at San Siro and when Filippo Inzaghi scored midway through the second half, Strachan quickly tried to find out the Shakhtar score.

"I was OK until Milan scored then I started looking around for a bit of help and I got a thumbs up," he said. "I thought the game was dead, that's why I was annoyed to concede a goal."

Former Manchester United midfielder Strachan would rather avoid English clubs in the first knockout round in February.

"For me personally, I've spent a lot of time in England. I want new arenas to play in," he added. "I think the next level would be to be a force away from home in Europe. We are a force at home."

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was happy to win at home for the third time in Group D, in stark contrast to Serie A where they have yet to win at San Siro this season. Finishing top of the group was also important for the holders, he said.

"It depends on the draw and the team we meet but it is important to have the second leg at San Siro," he added.

The last round of matches in Group D was brought forward by a week because Milan now travel to the Club World Cup in Japan.

"We have nine days to recover," Ancelotti said looking ahead to the tournament, where injured Brazilian striker Ronaldo hopes to feature. "We might have Ronaldo back."