Meanwhile, Chelsea had to settle for a 0-0 draw away to Dynamo Kiev but reigning European champions Barcelona won in Belarus and Bayer Leverkusen played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Roma in Germany.

Arsenal striker Oliver Giroud celebrates after scoring his team’s opener in the second-half against Bayern Munich at the Emirates (Picture: Getty)

Bayern arrived in London having won every game this season and they dominated possession for much of an absorbing Group F encounter.

However, they only remained on level terms at the break thanks to a stunning save by Manuel Neuer to keep out a header from point-blank range by the unmarked Theo Walcott.

But Arsenal, in desperate need of a win after defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos in their first two games, took advantage of a howler by Neuer to get the crucial breakthrough with 13 minutes remaining.

The Germany goalkeeper came and missed a free-kick, allowing substitute Giroud to bundle the ball into the net.

Arsenal then secured the points that keep alive their chances of progressing to the last 16 when Ozil’s finish from Hector Bellerin’s assist crossed the line despite Neuer’s best efforts to keep it out.

The Gunners remain bottom of the group with a trip to Bayern to come next, but the four sides are separated by just three points after Olympiakos won 1-0 in Croatia in the night’s other game thanks to a late Brown Ideye goal.

“We had an absolute necessity to win the game and we did it in a disciplined way,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

“Bayern had more possession than us, but we decided to make it tight in our final third and catch them on the break.”

Mourinho targets officials

Chelsea remain in a precarious position in Group G after a 0-0 draw with Dynamo Kiev in chilly Ukraine as the recalled Eden Hazard and Willian both hit the woodwork for the visitors.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho also felt that his side should have been given a penalty after Cesc Fabregas went down in the Dynamo box during the first half and later told UK television that the referee had been “weak and naive”.

The Premier League champions are third in the group, a point behind Dynamo and three points adrift of Porto, who beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 in Portugal thanks to goals by Vincent Aboubakar and Yacine Brahimi.

But with home games against Dynamo and Porto to come, as well as a trip to Israel, Mourinho remains confident his side will go through.

“We have the destiny in our hands,” he said. “We play two matches at home and one in Israel, so the qualification depends clearly on us.”

Barcelona strengthened their position atop Group E with a 2-0 victory away to BATE, secured by two fine second-half goals from substitute Ivan Rakitic, both set up Neymar.

“It was a very good game overall from the team. We pressed well and I don’t think BATE had a single chance,” said Rakitic.

The other match in the group was without doubt the game of the evening, with Leverkusen taking a two-goal lead and then falling 4-2 down before fighting back to snatch a precious point against Roma.

Javier Hernandez opened the scoring from the penalty spot for the Bundesliga side and increased their lead in the 19th minute, but Daniele De Rossi replied with a double for Roma before the break.

A tremendous Miralem Pjanic free-kick put the visitors in front and Iago Falque appeared to have secured a first win of the campaign for the Italians in the 73rd minute.

But Kevin Kampl reduced the deficit and substitute Admir Mehmedi rounded off a breathtaking game by making it 4-4 four minutes from time to keep Leverkusen in second place and leave Roma bottom of the group.

Zenit St Petersburg closed in on a quarter-final place with a third straight win in Group H as Artem Dzyuba, Hulk and Danny netted in a 3-1 victory over Lyon, for whom Alexandre Lacazette had equalised.

Valencia are three points back in second place after beating Gent 2-1 in Spain thanks to a Sofiane Feghouli shot that went in off Lasse Nielsen and a Stefan Mitrovic own goal either side of a Thomas Foket strike for the Belgians.

AFP

The post Arsenal revive Champions League hopes with 2-0 win over Bayern Munich, Chelsea held first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

#Arsenal will face @FCBayern, @olympiacos_org and @gnkdinamo in @ChampionsLeague Group F: http://t.co/l7szvZcqxj pic.twitter.com/w3PGdwkxCq

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) August 27, 2015

Manchester City is arguably in the Group of death having been  drawn against Europa League winners Sevilla , Borussia Monchengladbach and  last season’s  Champions League runners-up Juventus in Group D.

No questions: death group is Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Moenchengladbach — Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) August 27, 2015

Group of death! pic.twitter.com/JtaVSGo4Wf

— Footy Jokes (@Footy_Jokes) August 27, 2015

Manchester United return to the Champions League group stages this season was marked by being drawn in an easier group compared to other English teams. United was drawn in Group B which has the likes of PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg

Man United fans when they see they’ve drawn PSV… #UCLDraw #MUFC pic.twitter.com/tiwFyn2JgZ — Ladbrokes (@Ladbrokes) August 27, 2015

Reigning English Premier League Champions, Chelsea  were  drawn in Group that includes Porto, whom manager Jose Mourinho led to  Champions League triumph in 2004,  Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine and Maccabi Tel-Aviv of Isreal.

Chelsea fans loving their group #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/xnEWAROLaM

— Copa90 (@Copa90) August 27, 2015

Champions League holders Barcelona were drawn with  German side Bayer Leverkusen, Roma of Italy and  BATE Borisov in Group E, while its La Liga rival, Real Madrid will tussle it out with  Paris Saint-Germain, Shakhtar Donestk and Malmo in Group A.
read more on uefa.com

The post Champions League draw: Arsenal and Manchester City handed tough groups first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Rooney  has been getting much criticism from fans and pundits due to poor form as the England striker had gone 10 games without a goal for United prior to Wednesday.

Manchester United Captain Wayne Rooney struck a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Club Bruges in Belgium in the 2nd leg of the Champions League play-off tie.

The United skipper kept working hard and answered back to his critics in style when he hit a hat-trick in Belgium with Ander Herrera scoring the fourth goal.

Manchester United will discover their group opponents in today’s draw in Monaco having missed out on Champions League football last season.

“To go through to the group stage after being out of it last year is a great result. We look forward to the draw now tomorrow,” said Rooney.

“It was a big disappointment last year not to challenge in it. We didn’t think it would be as comfortable as it was, but it was vital we went through any way we could.

“Over the two legs we deserved that. We’ll enjoy the draw and it is nice to be back in there again.”

Club Brugge Coach Michel Preud’homme admitted the outcome was logical for his team having not reached the group stages since the 2005/06 season.

“It’s a top team and they are top players. They have everything,” said Preud’homme of the English club.

“We are there to learn something and I hope we can learn a lot from these two confrontations.”

Meanwhile in Germany Bayern Leverkusen smashed visiting 10-man Lazio 3-0 on the night to go through 3-1 on aggregate.

Lazio had gone in Germany defending their 1-0 goal advantage and reach the group stages for the first time since the 2007/08 season but Leverkusen proved too strong for them.

Bayern Leverkusen’s Hakan Calhanoglu celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Lazio

Leverkusen scored through Hakan Calhanoglu, Admir Mehmedie and Karim Bellarabi in a game which saw Lazio’s Brazilian defender Maurício being sent off for a second yellow card in the 70^th minute.

In the other games, Astana became the first Kazakh team to qualify when they netted a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at APOEL Nicosia for a 2-1 aggregate. Serbian midfielder Nemanja Maksimovic snatched the crucial goal for Astana six minutes from time as Kazakhstan became the 32nd country to be represented in the group stage.

BATE of Belarus lost 2-1 at Partizan Belgrade but advanced on away goals after the tie ended 2-2, while CSKA Moscow eliminated Sporting Lisbon 4-3 on aggregate.

Spain are the first country to have five clubs in the group stage in one season after Valencia progressed past Monaco 4-3 on aggregate despite a 2-1 defeat at the Ligue 1 side in their playoff second leg on Tuesday.

Valencia joined Barca, Real Mdrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, who qualified as last season’s Europa League winners.

Malmo, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Shakhtar Donetsk are also in today’s draw after qualifying through their play-off ties on Tuesday.

Read more on uefa.com

The post Rooney hits hat-trick as Manchester United return to Champions League group stages, Lazio dumped out first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Algeria international Feghouli put the Spanish side in the driving seat when he found the net in the 86th minute giving his team control going into the second leg.

Sofiane Feghouli scored a late goal for Valencia in their 3-1 win against Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League play-off

Valencia got off to the perfect start through Rodrigo’s tap-in after only four minutes, but Monaco responded early in the second-half through Mario Pasalic.

Valencia Captain Daniel Parejo had his deflected effort giving his team the lead before Feghouli sealed off the game with the third goal. “It’s a good result, the only downside is that we conceded a goal,” midfielder Parejo said. “We’re now going to Monaco to win, not just to qualify, because we don’t know how to play any other way.”

Valencia have got a good chance of returning to the Champions League group stages for the first time in three years.

Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim who guided the club to the quarter-final of the elite European competition last season said he felt that the result was unfair for his side.

“I think the result is unfair”, the manager was quoted as saying by French sports dailyL’Equipe. 
“When we were just starting to dominate the game, Valencia scored their second and third goals. “It is not normal to concede goals from the wide areas. We need to change this for the next game.”

Meanwhile in the other fixtures; Scottish champions Celtic secured a 3-2 win over Malmo, Swiss club FC Basel drew 2-2 with Israel side Maccabi Tel Aviv ,Shakhtar Donetsk were 1-0 winners away to Rapid Vienna and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb got a 2-1 win over Skenderbeu.

Read more on uefa.com

The post Valencia on course for Champions League group stages first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.