Nigeria, Sweden share spoils

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets came from behind twice on Tuesday to hold Sweden 3-3 at Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al-Ain.

Eaglets hit the ground immediately knocking at the opponents door but at each occasion the Europeans backline held on.

The Swedes created their fair share of scary moments as Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Dele Alampasu fumbled in most occasions.However, his inaccuracy at ball was lashed in on by forward, Valmir Berishe to put his side up in the 11th minute and was on song again in the 19th minute for the side second goal.

Isaac Success was to conjure a goal in the 22nd minute for his side after he squeezed himself free from two defenders to unleash a thunderous shot that beat the Mexican goalkeeper.

Both sides retired for the first term break with the Europeans firmly leading 2-1.

Eaglets resumed the second term more business like anxiously looking for the equaliser and it was Musa Yahaya whose shot was badly parried to slip into the net for Nigeria’s second goal.

Thereafter, it became a dingdong affair as both sides tried every trick in their book to undo each other but it was the Swedes who once again broke the ice as substitute, Halvadzic edged his side forward in the 65th minute.

Eaglets fought back strongly through substitute, Taiwo Awoniyi who drew level in the 81st minute to save his side from imminent defeat.

Efforts thereafter to grab the winner was rebuffed by the Mexicans as the Argentine referee, Juan Pablo Beletti sounded the whistle to end the thrilling encounter.

Both sides are level on four points but Nigeria lead the Group F log on superior goals.

Eaglets will head to Dubai to face the group weeping child, Iraq while Sweden will face resurgent title holders, Mexico on Friday.

Nigeria must avoid defeat against Iraq to be certain for passage to the knockout stage campaign at the ongoing Fifa Under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sweden set for Eaglets

I would like to think that Kelechi Ihenacho must have read our article on teammate Success Isaac before going out and scoring four spectacular goals against Mexico.

After his quadruple Ihenacho shared “I’ve scored four goals in a game many times, but only in the streets with my friends. But never in an international match, never for my country. The feeling is amazing.”

So I now wonder –if he reads this- what he will do against Sweden today in a match that puts the U17 tournament’s most successful team against its newest participant? For Nigeria they must be hoping he wants to retain that amazing feeling and continues where he left off.

Sweden meanwhile will pray to contain him while their own dynamic duo of captain Elias Andersson, and Gustav Engvall will try and get past the Nigerian backs as they did in their own 4-1 rout of Iraq. As we know in truth, the Swedes were outplayed by Iraq in the first half of their opener. But Andersson provided a moment of genius that turned the tide of the game. In the 36th minute, after being pegged back in the opening exchanges, he collected the ball at the corner of the penalty area, bamboozled his marker with a clever step-over and burst to the goal-line. Sweden would score and the flood gates would open.

Today the Europeans cannot afford to be outplayed by the Nigerians for any extended period of time because if they do, they will be punished as the quality of finishing they face is far beyond what Iraq offered. The Eaglets on the other hand as with Mexico, will try and stretch the field and create lanes for their danger-men Ihenacho and Success to rove in. Will Sweden try and cover them man to man or stay in a tight formation for a full 90 minutes? Interesting questions soon to be answered.

Ihenacho’s goal celebration during which he points to the sky with both fingers while paying ode to his departed Mother has become a fan favourite and was done in the stands in Al Ain by hundreds. Something tells me they will doing that dance again today.

Game time is 16.45 WAT and the match can be seen live on SS Channel 5 or followed via LIVETEXT on supersport.com

Golden Eaglets get warning

Nigeria's Golden Eaglets have been cautioned not to get over-confident after defeating Mexico 6-1 in their first game at the 2013 Fifa Under-17 World Cup in the UAE.

Head coach of the Nigerian squad, Manu Garba, warned his players to shape up for Tuesday's clash against Sweden at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.

Garba reminded his players of how they got complacent during the Under-17 African Championship after defeating Ghana 6-1 in their first game before losing to the Ivory Coast by a goal in the next match.

“We want you to focus only on our match against Sweden because that is the only thing that matters to us now.

"Don't forget what happened to us in Morocco when we beat Ghana 6-1 in our first match but lost to Cote d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) in the next match," Garba said to the players during their training on Monday.

Garba has charged his boys to emulate Brazil and Italy by winning their second game against Sweden to ensure they book their passage into the second round of the Under-17 World Cup.

"Brazil and Italy have both qualified for the second round because they won their first two matches. We have no excuse not to follow in their footsteps by winning our second game against Sweden and I have no doubt in my mind that you can achieve it," he said.

The Nigeria-Sweden match is live on SuperSport 5 from 5.45pm CAT (4.45pm Nigerian time) this Tuesday.

Lewandowski's late strike sinks Arsenal

Birthday greetings? Bottle of wine? The Beatles classic had a hollow ring for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on Tuesday as Borussia Dortmund handed out a Champions League reality check on the day he turned 64.

Robert Lewandowski's late volleyed winner earned Dortmund a 2-1 victory at a rain-soaked Emirates Stadium to throw Group F wide open just when Arsenal seemed capable of cruising through to the last 16 from a formidable section.

Without reproducing the scintillating form of recent weeks Arsenal were set for a point after Olivier Giroud cancelled out Henrikh Mkhitaryan's opener just before halftime but Lewandowski's composed 82nd minute strike condemned Arsenal to a third home defeat in a row against German opposition.

It ended a 12-match unbeaten run in all competitions for the Londoners and left Wenger's side tied on six points with last year's European Cup runners-up Dortmund and Napoli and a daunting looking away game to come in Germany in two weeks.

"We were not as good as we can be offensively and some of the players tonight were not as fresh as recently," Wenger told reporters. "If you can't win games you mustn't lose them.

"In the second half we were on top but if you concede two goals you can only say we have to look at ourselves at not being mature enough in situations like that.

"It's tight now and difficult for us. But possible," added Wenger whose side will need points from their away games in Dortmund and Napoli to reach the knockout rounds.

KLOPP SORRY

Wenger was tearing his hair out after both Dortmund goals and he even got some sympathy from Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp, who watched the match from the stands as he completed a two-match Uefa ban for his rant during their defeat by Napoli.

"I'm sorry, really!" he said when asked if he felt bad about ruining Wenger's birthday.

"It's a problem with the date. My birthday is in June when there are no football matches and I'm always on holiday."

Widely praised for their free-flowing football against Norwich City at the weekend, Arsenal appeared to be basking in their own hype as Dortmund, beaten by Bayern Munich in last year's final, bossed the opening 20 minutes.

Marco Reus had already fired one dangerous effort wide before the visitors went ahead in the 16th minute.

Midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who has hardly put a foot wrong in a barnstorming start to the season, was caught in possession by Lewandowski on the edge of his own penalty area and the Pole played a quick pass to Armenian Mkhitaryan whose low shot nestled in the corner of Wojciech Szczesny's net.

Arsenal were nearly given an immediate reprieve when Mats Hummels felled Giroud inches outside the area and escaped with a booking. The resultant free-kick came to nothing.

Dortmund's yellow army of fans drowned out the home support for much of the half but Arsenal finally stirred with Jack Wilshere denied by keeper Roman Weidenfeller after being sent clear by Tomas Rosicky before the latter had a shot cleared off the line by Hummels.

Arsenal's only real fluent spell of the match earned a reward four minutes before halftime when Weidenfeller and Hummels got in each other's way trying to deal with Bacary Sagna's cross and Giroud thumped the loose ball into an empty net for his seventh goal of the season.

KEEP BALL

Dortmund began the second half apparently intent on stifling Arsenal's momentum with a passage of "keep ball" in harmless areas of the pitch but it had the desired effect with Arsenal becalmed until the introduction of midfielder Santi Cazorla.

The Spaniard, replacing Wilshere who was feeling the effects of an early tackle on his ankle, injected energy into the hosts and he curled a long-range shot against the angle of post and crossbar after being teed up by an otherwise quiet Mesut Ozil.

A draw would have suited Arsenal and kept them in control of the group but an unmarked Lewandowski provided a painful sting in the tail from Kevin Grosskreutz's cross to bring the Gunners down to earth after their charge to the Premier League summit.

It was a bitter blow for the hosts, especially with Lewandowski perhaps lucky to escape punishment for a possible elbow on Laurent Koscielny, but the perfect fillip for Klopp who will be back at pitch-side for the return in two weeks.

"I don't think it was a red card," said Klopp. "It was one of many one-to-one battles they had all night.

"You can say that we only had three shots on goal and scored twice but we were strong and it's the result that matters. We are back on track now.

Desperate Juve eye Real scalp

Italian champions Juventus travel to face Real Madrid on Wednesday desperately needing to kickstart their Champions League campaign.

Juve could only manage disappointing draws against FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray in their opening two games, leaving them four points adrift of Madrid at the top of Group B.

And their confidence ahead of the daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu wasn't helped by a first league defeat of the season on Sunday as Fiorentina came from 2-0 down to beat Antonio Conte's men 4-2.

Conte described his side's second-half meltdown at the Artemio Franchi as a "nightmare".

However, he is hoping his side's experience will help them to get over the disappointment of defeat quickly.

"The game against Real Madrid didn't condition the game. When you are on the pitch it is difficult to think about the next game," he said.

"It is inexplicable with the experience that we have.

"It annoys us to lose, but we have to forget it quickly. We are a mature team."

Juve's two points from their opening two games mean they lead Galatasaray and Copenhagen by just a solitary point and are likely to have to take points from Madrid to avoid a tense showdown with the Turkish champions for second place in the final game in Istanbul.

Chilean international Arturo Vidal is a major doubt after he suffered a muscular problem in the latter stages against Fiorentina, while Stephan Lichsteiner and Mirko Vucinic are also likely to be missing.

There have been no such problems for Madrid in their opening two group games as they set a new competition record for the most prolific start to a Champions League campaign by firing 10 goals past Galatasaray and Copenhagen.

However, despite Juve's struggles so far in the competition, Madrid defender Pepe insists they deserve respect.

"We have to respect all their players. They have stars like (Gianluigi) Buffon and (Andrea) Pirlo, but I think their most important quality is their collective ability," he told the club's website.

Carlo Ancelotti's men also had a morale-boosting weekend as a 2-0 win over Malaga allied to dropped points for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid saw them move to within three points of Barca at the top of La Liga.

Gareth Bale returned for the final 13 minutes of Saturday's match following a slight thigh problem and Ancelotti didn't rule out the possibility that the Welshman could start against Juve.

"I don't think he would have any problems in playing from the start and it is an option that we have."

Ancelotti is also hoping French internationals Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane will be fit despite missing the win over Malaga with calf and knee injuries respectively.

Both players trained with the rest of the squad on Monday, as did Xabi Alonso for the first time since breaking a bone in his foot in August, but the Spanish international is not expected to be involved due to his lack of match practice.

Win gives Lennon hope for Celtic

Neil Lennon says his side's 2-1 Champions League home win over Ajax has left his side in a great position to progress from Group H.

The Hoops kick-started their campaign as a first-half James Forrest penalty and a second-half Beram Kayal strike handed them their first points after defeats to AC Milan and Barcelona in their opening two fixtures.

The result sees the Scottish giants leapfrog Ajax into third place to trail Milan by just two points and move four behind table toppers Barcelona.

And Lennon said Celtic's performance in Glasgow left him with the belief that his side could emulate their success of last season and qualify for the last 16 of the competition.

"The result leaves us in a very good position. We now have to get a result at Ajax if we can," Lennon said.

"That's going to be very difficult on tonight's evidence but it's not beyond us. That gives us three points and we are only two points behind Milan now so it leaves it open for us again.

"I knew that the group was going to be tight and difficult and I was happy with our performances in the first two games so it gave me a lot to be encouraged by coming into this double-header with Ajax.

"If we had lost the game that would have been no points after three games and we would have been out and chasing our tails.

"If we had got a point it wouldn't have been the end of the world but we got the win and it's wide open now.

"It is a massive win in the context of the group and we have given ourselves a great chance now."

The two sides are due to clash again in Amsterdam in three weeks time and Lennon knows his side's hard work in Glasgow would all be undone by defeat in the Netherlands.

"Ajax at home in Amsterdam are a formidable side. You can see that in the amount of possession they had tonight," Lennon said.

"They pass the ball and move the ball very well but I thought we coped with the majority of the stuff that they threw at us."

The Hoops were without first-team regulars Kris Commons and Adam Matthews through injury while captain Scott Brown was suspended and Lennon was full of praise for the players who came in to replace them.

"We have to give huge credit to the players here. This is their 19th competitive game already and that's half a season.

"The squad is really stretched with players coming back from injury and players out with injury and players suspended.

"The players got better as the game went on. It was a heroic effort tonight and hopefully we will get a few more back for the game in Amsterdam and we can go into the game confident."

It proved to be an unhappy return to Glasgow for Ajax coach Frank de Boer - who had lost both his previous matches at Parkhead as a player during a brief spell with Celtic's fierce rivals Rangers in 2004 - with his side now languishing at the bottom of the group with just one point.

However, Ajax had good chances to score through Christian Poulsen, Siem de Jong and Thulani Serero before substitute Lasse Schone netted in stoppage time.

And De Boer refused to write off his side's chances of qualifying and was disparaging about Celtic's performance at Parkhead.

"I have mixed feelings about the result. Celtic didn't create anything. Although they scored twice one was a penalty and the other one wasn't really a chance," de Boer said.

"We dominated the game but we only scored one goal. We should have equalised and then moments later it was 2-0 so I am very disappointed.

"For second place it is going to be very hard but we have one point and if we win at home against Celtic we will be one point ahead of them.

Torres steers Chelsea past Schalke

Fit-again Fernando Torres sparkled on his 100th start for Chelsea, scoring twice to help the 2012 winners outclass Schalke 04 3-0 to go top of Champions League Group E on Tuesday.

Torres produced a flying header at the far post after Branislav Ivanovic had flicked on a Frank Lampard corner in the fifth minute.

The Spain striker, back in the starting line-up following a knee injury, struck again in the 69th minute when he raced clear to beat keeper Timo Hildebrand after earlier rattling the bar with a powerful header.

Eden Hazard made it 3-0 after running half the length of the field as Chelsea, who last played on German soil when they beat Bayern Munich in the 2012 final, took their points tally to six, level with Schalke but with a much better goal difference.

Basle drew 1-1 with bottom club Steaua Bucharest and are in third place on four points.

"I feel we are improving as a team and the last few games I have felt very sharp," Torres told Sky Sports television.

"We were lucky to score the first goal early. In the second half our individual quality made the difference.

"To have got six points away from home is very important," added Torres, referring to Chelsea's previous victory in Bucharest.

It was also coach Jose Mourinho's first away win against a German team, having lost all previous six visits in his career.

The Portuguese opted to start Torres up front instead of Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o who was on target in the Premier League last Saturday.

"I put faith in Fernando and he answered well. It's a good feeling to score winning goals in the Champions League," said Mourinho.

"That was an important victory for us. I told my players after the Basle defeat that the performance was garbage and we had to clean it up and we have done that with two consecutive victories away.

"We were under pressure after the first game but now, after this result, we are in a good position," added Mourinho.

Schalke, who had won their first two games, had the lion's share of possession but, hampered by a string of injuries that kept several players out including forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, they lacked bite up front.

"It was very unfortunate to concede first from a set-piece," said coach Jens Keller. "We had chances and we should have taken one of them because you don't get many against a quality side like Chelsea."

BRIGHT START

Chelsea started brightly and looked menacing in the opening 20 minutes although Schalke threatened to equalise after fighting back towards the end of the first half.

Petr Cech was called into action as he palmed a rocket shot by Kevin-Prince Boateng over the bar and the keeper then denied Roman Neustaedter, punching away his venemous close-range header.

Chelsea took control again at the start of the second half and it was no surprise when the dangerous Torres walked the ball around Hildebrand after an excellent breakaway raid by Hazard and Oscar.

The Spain striker also headed the ball against the underside of the bar after a clever free kick from Frank Lampard.

Hazard put the icing on the cake for Chelsea when he sprinted clear in the 87th minute and calmly slotted the ball past Hildebrand.

"After the opener Chelsea contributed little to the game but defended their lead. We weren't able to break through," said Schalke captain Benedikt Hoewedes.

"We risked more in the second half and it was then that Chelsea made some brutal breaks. They took crucial advantage from their counter attacks and made the most of our mistakes.