Champions League Update: Giroud Scores Hattrick, Williams Seal Victory For Chelsea

After a run of results that threatened to blow Jose Mourinho out of town, the wind finally changed in the direction of Chelsea’s manager as victory over Porto guarantees protection.

Chelsea took the lead via an own goal scored by Porto defender Ivan Marcano in the 12th minute and that gave Chelsea a precious, early advantage. When they scored a second, through William after the break, the place broke out with spontaneous smiles and hugs as Abramovich was caught on camera hugging his wife, presumably relieved that he has been spared from sacking the ninth manager since he bought the club from Ken Bates in 2003.

Just like Arsenal’s Champions League campaign, it initially appeared to be all over for Olivier Giroud on Wednesday night who twisted an ankle just two minutes into the second half as he attempted a clearance on the run from deep, and lay struggling on the turf. His expression did not suggest good news and the home crowd bayed as Giroud received several minutes of treatment and rose, gingerly. Around a minute later, he won the tie for Arsenal with three beautiful goals which made sure Arsenal qualified for the round of 16. . A magnificent first-half winner, the crucial second, and then a well-take penalty to leave this raucous ground stunned. Champions League mathematics meant, at that point, that Olympiacos needed three goals in 24 minutes to progress.

Other result saw Gary Neville lose his first game in charge of Valencia while Lewandowski got a second half brace to make sure Bayern remain top of their group. Here are the results of yesterday matches and teams that have now made it to the next stage.

Results

Bayern Leverkusen 1 vs 1 Barcelona

Chelsea 2 vs 0 Porto

Dinamo Zagreb 0 vs 2 Bayern Munchen

Dynamo Kyiv 1 vs 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv

Gent 2 vs 1 Zenit

Olympiakos 0 vs 3 Arsenal

Roma 0 vs 0 Bate

Valencia 0 vs 2 Lyon

Qualified Teams:

Group A
Winner: Real Madrid (16 points)

Runner-Up: Paris Saint-Germain (13 points)

EUROPA Qualifier: Shakhtar Donetsk (3 points)

Group B

Winner: Wolfsburg (12 points)

Runner-Up: PSV Eindhoven (10 points)

EUROPA Qualifier: Manchester United (8 points)

Group C

Winner: Atlético Madrid (13 points)

Runner-Up: Benfica (10 points)

EUROPA Qualifier: Galatasaray (5 points)

Group D
Winner: Manchester City (12 points)

Runner-Up: Juventus (11 points)

EUROPA Qualifier: Sevilla (6 points)

Group E

Winner: Barcelona (13 points)

Runner-Up: Roma (6 points)

EUROPA Qualifier: Bayer Leverkusen (6 points)

Group F
Winner: Bayern Munich (12 points)

Runner-Up: Arsenal (9 points)

EUROPA Qualifier: Olympiakos (9 points)

Group G
Winner: Chelsea (13 points)

Runner-Up: Dynamo Kiev (11 points)

EUROPA Qualifier: Porto (10 points)

Group H
Winner: Zenit St. Petersburg (15 points)

Runner-Up: Gent (10 points)

EUROPA Qualifier: Valencia (6 points)