Champions League: Arsenal beat Bayern as Leverkusen and Roma share 8-goal thriller

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Late goals from Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil gave Arsenal a crucial win over Bayern Munich at the Emirates stadium. It was a must-win game for the Gunners, after surprise defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos in their opening Group F games. The visitors dominated possession, but couldn’t find a way past Petr Cech, who made a string of fine saves. His Bayern counterpart also pulled off a stunning stop to deny Theo Walcott, clawing a header away when a goal seemed certain. However, the German number one made an uncharacteristic mistake with just over ten minutes remaining, missing Sanit Cazorla’s free kick, allowing Giroud to tap in from close range. Ozil then secured the win for Arsene Wenger’s men in stoppage time, converting Hector Bellerin’s cross. In the group’s other game, Olympiakos won 1-0 in Zagreb to move to second in the group, behind Bayern. Meanwhile, there was an eight-goal thriller in Germany, as Bayer Leverkusen and Roma fought out a 4-4 draw. Javier Hernandez put the hosts two up inside the first 20 minutes, the first coming from the spot, before a double from Daniele de Rossi levelled matter before the break. The Italians then took a two-goal lead themselves through Miralem Pjanic and Iago Falque, until two goals in two minutes late on, from Kevin Kampl and Admir Mehmedi, gave Leverkusen a share of the points.In Group E’s other match, Barcelona eased to 2-0 win at BATE Borisov thanks to a double from Ivan Rakitic. Elsewhere, Group G saw Chelsea held to a goalless draw at Dynamo Kiev and Porto win 2-0 at home to Maccabi, whilst in Group H, Valencia beat Gent 2-1 and Zenit overcame Lyon 3-1.

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