Lazio, Arsenal make winning starts

Lazio, Arsenal make winning starts
Agence France Presse

SEPT 13: Lazio and Arsenal made winning starts to their Champions League marathon on Tuesday but reigning champions Real Madrid looked decidedly rickety as they came from two goals down to snatch a draw at Sporting Lisbon of Portugal.

Real were caught cold in Lisbon as Sporting Lisbon virtually overran them in midfield in the opening half.

The Spaniard's Portuguese international star Luis Figo was anonymous in the early stages and the hosts raced into a two-goal lead three minutes before half time.

Andre Cruz swung in a corner from the right and Sa Pinto's header rippled the net on 39 minutes before an Andre Cruz 25 metre swirling left foot freekick left Spanish keeper Iker Casillas clutching thin air.

But a Roberto Carlos goal five minutes after the interval put Real back in the picture and a Rui Jorge own goal on 76 minutes completed their recovery.

In Real's Group A earlier, Russian champions Spartak Moscow beat German outfit Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 with goals from Yegor Titov and a late effort from Artyom Bezrodny.

In Group C, Valencia scored a 2-1 win over Greek side Olympiakos with goals from Ruben Baraja and Diego Alonso while in the same group French debutants Lyon marched past Holland's Heerenveen 3-1, Brazil's Sonny Anderson putting them on the victory road.

Goals rained down in Group D with 10 goals in the two fixtures. Galatasaray and Monaco fought out a pulsating encounter as the French champions initially came back from two goals down before tempers boiled over and Turkish veteran Gheorghe Hagi got himself sent off -- just as he had in the UEFA Cup final. Yet the hosts still won 3-2 with a late thumping header from Brazilian defender Capone.

Brazilian marksman Jardel opened the scoring after 15 minutes, bundling the ball home from two yards as keeper Stephane Porato fumbled a low cross.

A stunning strike on the run from veteran Romanian magician Hagi then left Porato standing as a 25-metre thunderbolt ripped past him.

But Monaco stormed back after the break and Burundi international Shabani Nonda, a $<\!q>20 million summer signing from Rennes, pulled one back just four minutes after the break with a fine strike from the edge of the box after Hagi over-elaborated and lost possession in his own half

Capone then dragged Nonda down inside the box from behind and Marco Simone squeezed the spot kick under the body of the Turks' Brazilian keeper Claudio Taffarel to bring the sides level.

Hagi lost his head on 68 minutes and elbowed John Riise to get a red card but Monaco then found themselves down to ten men three minutes later as Ousmane Dabo kicked Emre from behind and also went for an early bath.

In a frantic finale Capone made amends for his earlier foul on Nonda with his headed winner.

Monaco's Group D Rivals Rangers thrashed Sturm Graz of Austria 5-0 as the Scots shrugged off shaky domestic form.

Three goals inside the first half-hour put Rangers in control. Dutch international striker Michael Mols opened the scoring after nine minutes before compatriot Ronald de Boer netted the second 10 minutes later.

German Jorg Albertz made it three a minute before the half hour mark.

Albertz missed a second half penalty before Dutch international midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Scot Billy Dodds completed the rout.