Uefa league: Porto thrash Leicester, Dortmund hold Madrid.

Already qualified Leicester City lost for the first time in the Champions League as Porto recorded a very comfortable victory to join the Foxes in the last 16, while Borussia Dortmund came from behind to draw champions, Real Madrid 2-2 to top Group F.
Leicester were already assured of progressing as Group G winners before the game and boss Claudio Ranieri made 10 changes to his starting XI.
Porto needed to win to guarantee their place in the knockout stage and made the ideal start when Andre Silva headed home.
The Portuguese side dominated throughout, with Leicester rarely making it out of their own half, and added a deserved second through Jesus Corona’s stunning volley.
Yacine Brahimi then scored a brilliant third just before half-time, backheeling Maxi Pereira’s cross beyond goalkeeper Ben Hamer, before Silva converted a second-half penalty following Danny Drinkwater’s foul.
Diogo Jota rounded off the scoring late on, slotting home after being put through on goal.
The result took some of the shine off Leicester’s previous performances in the Champions League this season, but they can now look forward to the draw for the last 16, which takes place on Monday at around 11:00 GMT.
And Tottenham secured a place in the Europa League knockout stage as their Champions League campaign ended with a convincing victory over CSKA Moscow.
Spurs, who needed to avoid defeat to secure third in Group E, went behind when Alan Dzagoev scored from Zoran Tosic’s headed flick-on.
But Dele Alli, who had already missed two good chances, half-volleyed in Christian Eriksen’s cross to level, before Harry Kane finished a stylish move to put Spurs in front.
CSKA keeper Igor Akinfeev gifted Spurs a third when he inadvertently guided Alli’s header into his own net after making an initial save, reports the BBC.
It means Tottenham will enter the Europa League for the sixth consecutive season after their first appearance in the Champions League for five years ended in disappointment.
But there were positive signs for Spurs as they created numerous chances in a performance inspired by Eriksen’s creativity and range of passing.
Despite Spurs’ hopes of progressing in the Champions League being extinguished by a defeat at Monaco two weeks ago, boss Mauricio Pochettino opted for a strong side. He made just one change from the 5-0 win over Swansea in the Premier League on Saturday, bringing in Harry Winks for Mousa Dembele.
And the Argentine was rewarded not only with a Europa League berth, but also a first win for Tottenham at Wembley in their last seven outings – including domestic competitions.
Spurs’ decision to play this season’s Champions League home games at Wembley meant they were left playing a game with very little at stake in the grand surroundings of the national stadium.
Tottenham have the option to use Wembley for all of their home games next season and, despite losing their first two group games there, a club-record attendance of 85,512 against Bayer Leverkusen last month and this win over CSKA Moscow might make that prospect more appealing.
There was further good news for Spurs as defender Toby Alderweireld came off the bench after missing the last 10 games through injury, suggesting he could be fit for Sunday’s league game against Manchester United.
UEFA LEAGUE RESULTS
Bayer Levkn 3 – 0 Monaco
Tottenham 3 – 1 CSKA
Legia War 1 – 0 Sporting
Real Madrid 2 – 2 Bor Dortmd
Club Brugge 0 – 2 FC Copenhagen
FC Porto 5 – 0 Leicester
Juventus 2 – 0 Dinamo Zagreb
Lyon 0 – 0 Sevilla

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.

0 comments:

Post a Comment