Man U, Arsenal Advance to Second Round of UEFA Champions League

Distinguished English soccer teams Manchester United and Arsenal both reached the second round of the UEFA Champions League yesterday.

United swept away Ukraine`s Dynamo Kiev 4-0 at Old Trafford yesterday in the fourth game of the first round of Group F play. Manchester United has won four consecutive games, securing 12 points in the tourney. United advanced to the second round after the third-place team in the group, Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), drew 2-2 with AS Roma (Italy) in a home game, bringing its score tally to four points (1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses).

United’s Defender Gerard Pique scored the first goal on a 31st minute header off a deflected free kick by Cristiano Ronaldo. In the 37th, Carlos Tevez scored the second goal, followed by Wayne Rooney’s goal in the 76th, and Ronaldo’s in the 88th. Ronaldo tied with Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan) as the leading scorer of the Champions League (4 goals), and Rooney scored a goal in three consecutive games.

In Group H, Arsenal drew 0-0 with Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) in an away game, and Arsenal’s 10 points (3 wins, 1 draw) safely put them 6 points away from third-place Slavia (1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses; 4 points). Even if Arsenal loses all its remaining games, Arsenal has won and drawn a game with Slavia, which secures Arsenal’s advance to the next round. Seville (Spain), also from Group H, beat Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 2-0 in an away game to bring its record to three wins and a loss (9 points) in pursuit of the group-leading Arsenal squad.

Spain’s FC Barcelona secured its leading position in Group E with three wins and one draw with a 2-0 victory over the Rangers (Scotland) on a goal by Thierry Henry in the 6th minute, and Lionel Messi’s in the 43rd.

In Group G, Inter Milan (Italy), which played against CSKA Moscow (Russia) at home, won a 4-2 come-from-behind victory, thanks to two goals each from Zlatan and Cambiaso. Inter is now the leading team in Group G with three wins and a loss.

bluesky@donga.com