UCL REVIEW: Mikel scores for Chelsea, Musa out with CSKA

December 10, 2014 11:20 pm

John Obi Mikel was among the scorers as Chelsea eased past Sporting Lisbon 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) match at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues were already guaranteed top spot, but cruised home as Cesc Fabregas slotted home a penalty and Andre Schurrle made the most of a rare start to double the lead before half-time.

Jonathan Silva pulled one back in the second half but Mikel’s third means Sporting drop into the UEFA Europa League, after Schalke won at Maribor to snatch second place.

Manchester City beat AS Roma 2-0 in the final game of Group E, sealing their passage in the last 16 of the tournament in the process.

Samir Nasri’s second half strike was added to by Pablo Zabaleta‘s late on, as City knocked out Roma and advanced to the knockout rounds for the second-straight season and just the second time in club history.

Their qualification was made all the more impressive given the fact that City failed to win any of their opening four matches in the group, however wins against Bayern Munich and Roma in their last two matches proved to be enough.

In the other game in Group E, Bayern saw off CSKA Moscow 3-0 to knock out the Russian side and finish well clear at the top.

Thomas Muller converted a first-half penalty after Franck Ribery was felled on the edge of the area.

Bayern never looked like losing their stronghold on the game, as Sebastian Rode ran in at the back post to head home the second with seven minutes left and Mario Gotze scored in the final minute.

CSKA now finish the group bottom with Roma qualifying for the Europa League.

In Group F, Barcelona finished top of the log as they beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 at the Nou Camp.

Both teams had already qualified, but top spot in the table was at stake and PSG seemed to take the advantage when Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck against his old club.

However, Lionel Messi added to his UCL goal tally by netting his 75th in the competition after an assist from Luis Suarez, and Neymar gave the Catalans the lead just before half-time with a well struck shot from distance into the bottom corner.

Suarez then got himself on the score sheet in the second half by converting a rebound as Neymar’s shot was saved.

FULL RESULTS

Group E

Bayern Munich 3-0 CSKA Moscow

Roma 0-2 Manchester City

Group F

Ajax 4-0 APOEL Nicosia

Barcelona 3-1 Paris Saint Germain

Group G

Chelsea 3-1 Sporting

Maribor 0-1 Schalke

Group H