UCL Round Up:  Onyeka's Midtjylland Crash Out of Europe As Liverpool, Manchester City Secure Top Spots 


UCL
  UCL Round Up:  Onyeka's Midtjylland Crash Out of Europe As Liverpool, Manchester City Secure Top Spots By Omolagba Oluwayemi Curtis Jones scored his first Champions League goal after a horrific goalkeeping mistake as Liverpool beat Ajax to win Group D and secured a place in the last 16 BSNsports.com.ng reports. Andre Onana misjudged the flight of Neco Williams' cross and 19-year-old midfielder Jones took advantage to score with the outside of his right foot. Caoimhin Kelleher, deputising for first-choice keeper Alisson who was missing with a hamstring injury, also played his part in Liverpool's win, a tremendous stop to deny substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar the pick of his saves. Former Everton midfielder Davy Klaassen wasted a great chance for the visitors and David Neres hit the woodwork. Jones also rattled a post before his goal ensured Liverpool, with one game to spare, joined Premier League rivals Manchester City and Chelsea in the knockout stage. Atalanta and Midtjylland played out a one all draw in the other group game. The draw means Midtjylland can no longer qualify for Europa League having gotten only one point to remain bottom of the table, 6 points behind closest rival. Atalanta on 7 points and Ajax on 6 points will slug it out for who joins Liverpool in the next round when they play each other in Netherlands next Wednesday. Manchester City had a late goal against Porto ruled out but a draw was enough for them to secure top spot in Group C. It seemed that after a frustrating 80 minutes substitute Gabriel Jesus had broken the deadlock when he tapped home after his initial header had been saved, but the effort was ruled out because Joao Cancelo was offside. The rest of the match saw exceptional goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin and his deep-lying five-man defence soak up incessant pressure from Pep Guardiola's side, who came into the match having put five goals past Burnley at the weekend and with a 100% record in the group. The Argentine keeper made three superb saves. He twice denied Spanish forward Ferran Torres, pushing one effort wide of the post in the first half before blocking a spectacular overhead kick after the break. Porto's stopper also denied Raheem Sterling by rushing out to block his attempt on goal. The England winger went close again when he cut in and fired a low shot which was cleared off the line by Zaidu Sanusi. The point also saw Porto qualify from the group. Atletico Madrid must avoid defeat in their final group game at Red Bull Salzburg to ensure qualification for the Champions League last 16 after they were held to a draw by Bayern Munich. Atletico were heading for the knockout rounds after Joao Felix's opening goal. But substitute Thomas Muller earned an under-strength Bayern a draw with a late penalty after a foul by Felipe. Bayern are already through to the last 16.
Niyi
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Niyi Busari

Award winning journalist, Niyi Busari, the Publisher and CEO of BSN Sports Concepts is one of the most celebrated Nigerian sports journalist of his generation. A"cross-over" professional, he combines the talents and abilities of a print and electronic journalist in a manner that is rare, even though his specialization is print. A graduate of Economics from the University of Abuja where he obtained his Bachelor Degree in 2015.

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