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Porto, Arsenal draw to secure qualification
FC Porto and Arsenal drew 0-0 on Wednesday to put both teams through to the second round of the Champions League.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:38 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Porto, Portugal:
FC Porto and Arsenal drew 0-0 on Wednesday to put both teams through to the second round of the Champions League. No team in Group G had qualified until the last rotation. Hamburg's 3-2 win over CSKA Moscow ensured Porto and Arsenal advanced with 11 points each. CSKA has eight points and Hamburg has three. Porto winger Ricardo Quaresma's two shots that hit the post early in the second half were the best chances in a game that ended in jeers from the crowd as both teams settled for the draw. Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, without suspended Thierry Henry, placed Emmanuel Adebayor alone in attack and strengthened his midfield with Mathieu Flamini. The hosts were livelier, and after five minutes Pepe beat Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann to a cross from Quaresma but headed over the bar. Lehmann then twice denied center forward Helder Postiga in the space of three minutes, and Quaresma tried his luck with a flicked shot that had Lehmann scrambling. The Gunners, last season's runners-up, appeared happy to sit back and soak up the pressure until the closing minutes of the first half when Alexander Hleb and Cesc Fabregas linked up for a neat move but Pepe got in the way. Porto, the 2004 European champions under Jose Mourinho, continued to probe after the interval and Quaresma twice fired shots against the post in 10 minutes. Arsenal also showed some attacking spirit, though Helton gathered a free kick from Fabregas on the edge of the area with little trouble. Fredrik Ljungberg and Adebayor tried to find a way through but Porto's defense was solid. Wenger replaced Adebayor with Robin van Persie with 15 minutes to play, but as the match neared its end both teams focused on defending despite the crowd's jeers. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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