Source: Eurosport
Reprieved Eduardo completes Arsenal fightback
Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva, playing two days after his ban for diving was lifted on appeal, scored an 81st-minute winner to give his team a 3-2 comeback win at Standard Liege in the Champions League on Wednesday.[LNB] The Brazilian-born Croatia international scored from close range three minutes after Thomas Vermaelen had pulled the Premier League side level following a nightmare start where they went 2-0 down in five minutes.[LNB] Defending champions Barcelona kicked off with a goalless draw at Inter Milan in the night's most prestigious match while Dynamo Kiev scored three times in the last 20 minutes as they came from behind to beat Rubin Kazan 3-1.[LNB] Five-times winners and last year's semi-finalists Liverpool beat Hungarian outsiders Debrecen 1-0 at Anfield and there were home wins by the same score for Olympiakos against AZ Alkmaar and Olympique Lyon over 10-man Fiorentina.[LNB] Eduardo was due to sit out the Group H match in Liege after he was suspended for two games for deceiving the referee when he won a penalty in a qualifying match against Celtic.[LNB] The ban was lifted by UEFA on Monday and Eduardo, who spent a year out of the game after suffering an horrific broken leg in February 2008, celebrated in style.[LNB] Liege, beaten 7-0 at home by Arsenal in a Cup Winners Cup match in 1993, began as if they intended to avenge that result, stunning the London side with two goals in the opening five minutes from Eliaquim Mangala and Milan Jovanovic.[LNB] Nicklas Bendtner gave Arsenal hope by scoring on the stroke of halftime before Arsenal's late show gave them an opening-day win.[LNB] Inter and Barcelona fought out a scrappy encounter in Group F, both teams lacking conviction in the final third of the field.[LNB] Barcelona forward Lionel Messi missed a sitter when he scooped over the bar following Thierry Henry's cross-shot in the second half.[LNB] (Editing by Clare Fallon)
