Scholes puts United 3-1 ahead with two late goals

MANCHESTER, England Nov 21 (Reuters)(DS) - Manchester United
needed Paul Scholes's goalscoring prowess to save them from a
disappointing drawn start to the second stage of the Champions
League when they beat Panathinaikos 3-1 on Tuesday.
Until he struck twice in the final 10 minutes United
struggled to contain an enterprising and spirited Panathinaikos
side who were unlucky not to return to Greece with a point.
They had three gilt-edged first half chances and were only
denied an unassailable interval lead by some excellent goal
keeping by Fabien Barthez.
And when United did strike in the 48th minute through Teddy
Sheringham the Greek club soon drew level thanks to a majestic
Giorgios Karagounis free-kick.
Scholes epitomised the United character though by popping up
twice with crucial goals to seal the victory.
Panathinaikos took United by surprise in adopting the
unusual tactic of attacking in the opening stages and their bold
move nearly paid off in the 12th minute.
Igor Sypniewski broke through the backline and slipped the
ball past the last defender only for Nikolaos Liberopoulos to
shoot straight at Barthez.
The French keeper went on to deny Krzysztof Warzycha after
he broke clear of the home defence and then Liberopoulos again
after his swift footwork gave him space in the box.
Panathinaikos paid for their profligacy just three minutes
after the interval when a Barthez clearance was flicked on for
Sheringham to hold off a Leonidas Vokolos challenge and power
the ball into the far corner.
But Panathinaikos deservedly struck back in the 64th minute
with a stunning, curling free-kick from Karagounis that left
Barthez well beaten.
United pushed forward and grabbed the lead in the 80th
minute through Scholes after Mikael Silvestre's dribble into the
box ended with a power-packed shot that Antonis Nikopolidis
could only parry to the midfielder's feet.
And the England man added a classy third in the 90th minute
with a delicate chip over the despairing keeper.

Milan survived first half two goal deficit with Galatasaray

MILAN, Nov 21 (Reuters)(DS) - A pulsating 2-2 draw between AC
Milan and Galatasaray ended amid ugly scenes at the San Siro on
Tuesday with eight players involved in a fracas and coins and
objects being thrown onto the pitch.
Swiss referee Urs Meier just about kept control of the
situation, but collected a handful of objects aimed at the
players just before the final whistle.
The incident appeared to be sparked when AC Milan pressed
for a late winner and one of their forwards appeared to follow
through on the Galatasaray goalkeeper Kerem Inan.
Galatasaray had built a 2-0 lead only for Milan to level --
and have an Oliver Bierhoff goal disallowed for offside.
Galatasaray took the lead in the 39th minute when Ergun
Penbe picked out Mario Jardel with a cross from the left and the
Brazilian blasted home a left-footed volley.
Two minutes later the Istanbul side doubled their advantage
when Hasan Sas sprung the Milan offside trap and ran alone into
the area to head Hagi's free-kick over the advancing Milan
'keeper Christian Abbiati.
Milan charged forward and only an excellent save from Kerem
foiled a scorching volley from Andriy Shevchenko.
Then Paolo Maldini struck the post from close range as
Milan entered the break desperately searching for a way back
into the game.
That came just three minutes after the restart when Roque
Junior found Jose Mari inside the area and the Spanish striker
made room for himself before firing a low shot past Kerem.
After a lengthy spell of pressure Milan got the equaliser
in the 73rd minute when Vedat Inceefe was judged to have handled
in the area and after lengthy and vociferous protests from the
Turkish players Shevchenko converted the spot-kick.

Headed goals seal victory for Valencia

VALENCIA, Spain, Nov 21 (Reuters)(DS) - Headed goals either side
of halftime gave Valencia a 2-0 victory over Sturm Graz in their
opening Champions League second phase group A match on Tuesday.
Valencia's first goal did not come until the final minute of
the first half when giant Norwegian striker John Carew met a
near-post corner from Mendieta with a powerful header.
Sturm goalkeeper Kazimierz Sidorczuk managed to get a hand
to the ball but was unable to stop it crossing the line.
The home side's second came just two minutes after the
break, once again from a Mendieta corner. This time it was
Valencia's other striker, Juan Sanchez, who dived in front of
the Sturm defence to direct a header below Sidorczuk.
Valencia continued to dominate for the rest of the match,
with Carew a constant threat to the Austrian defence, but
despite peppering the Sturm goal with shots the Spaniards were
unable to stretch their lead.

Deportivo Coruna maintain unbeaten run in Paris with comfortable win over PSG

PARIS, Nov 21 (Reuters)(DS) - Deportivo Coruna maintained their
unbeaten run in the Champions League with a fine 3-1 win away
against Paris St Germain in their group B clash at the Parc des
Princes on Tuesday.
A gross goalkeeping blunder by Jose Molina in the 38th
minute gave the Parisians false hopes of snatching their first
victory in six matches.
But Jimmy Algerino's first half goal was only a reprieve for
PSG, who sank after an hour of play.
Moroccan defender Noureddine Naybet equalised with a fine
volley in the 63rd minute while Angola's Emerson should have
been awarded a penalty in the following move.
It was only a matter of time as Turu Flores made it 2-0 on a
counter-attack seven minutes later from just outside the box.
Deportivo, the only team yet to lose a match in the
competition, wrapped up the game with a last-minute goal by
Dutchman Roy Makaay.

Champions league second phase results/standings/fixtures

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters)(DS) - Results, standings and remaining
fixtures in the second phase of the Champions League:
GROUP A
Results:
Tuesday, November 21
Valencia 2 Sturm Graz 0
Manchester United 3 Panathinaikos 1
Standings P W D L F A Pts
Manchester United 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
Valencia 1 1 0 0 2 0 3
Panathinaikos 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
Sturm Graz 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
Remaining fixtures:
Wednesday, December 6
Panathinaikos v Valencia
Sturm Graz v Manchester United
Wednesday, February 14
Sturm Graz v Panathinaikos
Valencia v Manchester United
Tuesday, Febuary 20
Panathinaikos v Sturm Graz
Manchester United v Valencia
Wednesday, March 7
Sturm Graz v Valencia
Panathinaikos v Manchester United
Tuesday, March 13
Valencia v Panathinaikos
Manchester United v Sturm Graz
- - - -

GROUP B
Results:
Tuesday, November 21
AC Milan 2 Galatasaray 2
Paris St Germain 1 Deportivo Coruna 3
Standings P W D L F A Pts
Deportivo Coruna 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
AC Milan 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Galatasaray 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Paris St Germain 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
Remaining matches:
Wednesday, December 6
Deportivo Coruna v AC Milan
Galatasaray v Paris St Germain
Wednesday, February 14
Galatasaray v Deportivo Coruna
AC Milan v Paris St Germain
Tuesday, February 20
Deportivo Coruna v Galatasaray
Paris St Germain v AC Milan
Wednesday, March 7
Galatasaray v AC Milan
Deportivo Coruna v Paris St Germain
Tuesday, March 13
AC Milan v Deportivo Coruna
Paris St Germain v Galatasaray
- - - -

GROUP C
Fixtures:
Wednesday, November 22
Bayern Munich v Olympique Lyon
Spartak Moscow v Arsenal
Tuesday, December 5
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
Olympique Lyon v Spartak Moscow
Tuesday, February 13
Olympique Lyon v Arsenal
Bayern Munich v Spartak Moscow
Wednesday, February 21
Arsenal v Olympique Lyon
Spartak Moscow v Bayern Munich
Tuesday, March 6
Olympique Lyon v Bayern Munich
Arsenal v Spartak Moscow
Wednesday, March 14
Bayern Munich v Arsenal
Spartak Moscow v Olympique Lyon
- - - -

GROUP D
Fixtures:
Wednesday, November 22
Leeds United v Real Madrid
Anderlecht v Lazio
Tuesday, Decmeber 5
Lazio v Leeds United
Real Madrid v Anderlecht
Tuesday, February 13
Real Madrid v Lazio
Leeds United v Anderlecht
Wednesday, February 21
Lazio v Real Madrid
Anderlecht v Leeds United
Tuesday, March 6
Real Madrid v Leeds United
Lazio v Anderlecht
Wednesday, March 14
Leeds United v Lazio
Anderlecht v Real Madrid
- - - -

Top two teams in each group qualify for the quarter-finals.