Barcelona edged closer to sealing their place in the last 16 of the Uefa Champions League as Ivan Rakitic’s double handed them a comfortable 2-0 win away at Bate Borisov.
Rakitic had started on the bench, but was pressed into action by a first-half injury to Sergi Roberto and opened the scoring after a frustrating opening period for the visitors soon after half time.
Neymar then teed up the Croatian midfielder for his second as Barca solidified their position atop Group E with seven points from their first three games.
An incredible 4-4 draw between Bayer Leverkusen and Roma in the group’s other game leaves Barca three points ahead of the Germans, with Bate a point ahead of Roma in third.
Neymar has taken the lead role since Lionel Messi was sidelined by a knee ligament injury three weeks ago and he nearly added to his four goals against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday within three minutes but his shot was too close to goalkeeper Sergei Chernik.
The visitors suffered another injury blow on 17 minutes when Roberto hobbled off, but his replacement Rakitic was to have a telling impact.
Sergio Busquets was unfortunate to see a shot fly beyond the far post before Rakitic should have done better when unmarked from Dani Alves’s cross as the recently crowned Belarusian champions held out until half time.
However, it took Barca just three minutes to open the scoring after the break as Neymar set up Rakitic to fire his first goal of the season into the top corner.
Neymar’s search for a goal continued as he sent a sweetly struck volley inches wide moments later.
Yet he had an important part to play in the second goal as Rakitic received another pass from the Brazilian before lifting the ball over the advancing Chernik.
D Kiev 0 Chelsea 0
Chelsea unable to find a goal in Kiev
Chelsea struck the woodwork twice but could not find a breakthrough in a 0-0 draw at Dynamo Kiev that left everything to play for in Group G. Within the context of Chelsea’s poor start to the season, a goalless draw in Ukraine can be considered a positive result and Jose Mourinho’s side certainly did enough to earn all three points. Eden Hazard, restored to the starting line-up, struck the post early on while Willian crashed a free kick against the underside of the bar after the restart as the visitors crafted the better openings.
Leverkusen 4 Roma 4
Hosts rebound in topsy-turvy game
Roma looked to have completed a remarkable turnaround at the BayArena on Tuesday night only to let hosts Bayern Leverkusen rescue a point. Leverkusen raced into a two-goal lead through two strikes from Javier Hernandez, the first a penalty. But Roma hit back with a double from Daniele de Rossi before the break and then Miralem Pjanic gave the Italians the lead in the 54th minute. Iago Falque made it 4-2 with 15 minutes left but Kevin Kampl and Admir Mehmedi both scored late on to secure the draw.
Zagreb 0 Olympiakos 1
Ideye goal gives visitors hope
Olympiakos boosted their hopes of reaching the knockout stages after an Brown Ideye goal helped them to a 1-0 Group F win at Dynamo Zagreb on Tuesday night. Nigerian striker Ideye scored a 79th-minute winner with a superb finish from a tight angle, redeeming himself for an astonishing miss earlier in the second half. The result left Olympiakos level with Bayern Munich at the top of Group F with six points from three games after the German side suffered a 2-0 setback at Arsenal.
Porto 2 Maccabi 0
First-half goals put Porto on top
Porto moved clear at the top of Group G with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Estadio de Dragao. Vincent Aboubakar opened the scoring for the home side after 37 minutes and Yacine Brahimi doubled their lead four minutes later. There were no more goals after the break but Porto never looked in danger of relinquishing their lead. The Portuguese side lead the way in the group on seven points while Maccabi are yet to get off the mark, having lost all three of their matches.
Valencia 2 Ghent 1
Own-goal leaves Ghent deflated
An own-goal from Ghent’s Stefan Mitrovic gifted Valencia victory at the Mestalla in Spain on Tuesday night. The visitors looked good for a draw after Thomas Foket had cancelled out the opener by Algerian midfielder Sofiane Feghouli. However, with 18 minutes remaining, Serbian centre-back Mitrovic put the ball past his own goalkeeper Matz Sels for Valencia’s winner. Ghent now languish at the bottom of Group H alongside Lyon as both Valencia and Zenit look likely to progress to the knockout stages.
Zenit 3 Lyon 1
Strong showing at home for Zenit
Group H’s surprise package Zenit St Petersburg defeated Lyon 3-1 at the Stadion Petrovskij. The Russian side are now on a perfect nine points after three matches thanks to an early strike from Artem Dzyuba and second-half goals from Hulk, and Danny. Alexandre Lacazette had earlier equalised for Lyon midway through the first half, but the French side now have it all to do to progress as they sit bottom of the table with only one point.
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