Late Drogba goal earns Chelsea 2-2 draw

Didier Drogba scored deep into stoppage time to earn Chelsea a 2-2 draw at Barcelona in a highly charged Champions League Group A match at the Nou Camp yesterday.

Eidur Gudjohnsen returned to haunt his former team-mates when he scored to put Barcelona 2-1 up after 58 minutes, but Chelsea struck back to steal a point.

Barca got off to a dream start when midfielder Deco put them ahead in the third minute with a superb low drive but Chelsea got back in the match when Frank Lampard scored a remarkable equaliser seven minutes into the second half.

Gudjohnsen, who spent six seasons at Stamford Bridge, stabbed home from close range after a great pass from Ronaldinho 13 minutes into the second half. Drogba struck with three minutes of injury time played leaving Barca in a perilous position.

With Werder Bremen winning 3-0 at Levski Sofia, Chelsea have 10 points, Werder have seven and Barcelona five. Levski are out of it with no points.

At Anfield, Liverpool booked their place in the last 16 with a 3-0 win over a Bordeaux side reduced to 10 men for the last 23 minutes when Fernando Menegazzo was sent off.

Luis Garcia arrived at the far post to angle a volley past Ulrich Rame in the 23rd minute to give Liverpool the lead.

Menegazzo was dismissed in the 67th for butting John Arne Riise and Steven Gerrard took advantage of the space to side-foot home the second five minutes later. Garcia broke free to score the third to ensure Liverpool's progress from Group C along with PSV Eindhoven.

Second-half goals by Timmy Simons and Arouna Kone gave PSV a 2-0 win over Galatasaray. Simons opened the scoring on the hour with a close range header and Kone settled the match six minutes from time.

PSV are second in the group on goal difference with 10 points behind leaders Liverpool.

Uninspiring Bayern

Injury-hit Bayern Munich secured a place in the last 16 thanks to an uninspiring goalless draw at home to Sporting.

Sporting almost made the breakthrough in the 76th minute when Joao Moutinho cracked the bar with a 20-metre free-kick but otherwise the visitors wasted their possession with poor passing around the penalty area in the Group B match.

For Bayern, Roy Makaay arrowed a shot just wide in the 11th minute and blasted over the bar in the second half, while Sporting keeper Ricardo had to save brilliantly to keep out a Martin Demichelis header a minute from time.

Bayern have 10 points from their four group games and are guaranteed a place in the top two. Inter are second on six points after they won 1-0 at Spartak Moscow in an earlier kick-off, while Sporting are still in the hunt with five.

A first-minute goal by Julio Cruz proved to be decisive for Inter on a freezing night in the Russian capital.

Cruz also struck in the first minute to lead Inter to a 2-1 victory over Spartak in the teams' first meeting in Milan two weeks ago. He also added the second after nine minutes at the San Siro.

Spartak defender Roman Shishkin hit the crossbar with a powerful blast from 30 metres late in the match as the Russians pressed for an equaliser but the visitors withstood the treat.

In Ukraine, Valencia qualified for the knockout phase after a 2-2 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk.

In a see-saw match, Donetsk relied on their Brazilian imports, with Jadson drawing first blood two minutes into the game by curling a free-kick over the wall.

Fernando Morientes evened the score at the 18 minute mark when he reacted sharply to a loose ball.

Fernandinho put the home side ahead again after 28 minutes. The visitors roared back in the 67th minute when an unmarked Robert Ayallah easily headed home a corner.

Also from Group D, Roma closed in on a place in the knockout stages when they drew 1-1 with Olympiakos.

Roma, who have never qualified for the knockout stage before, were 1-0 down at half-time after Julio Cesar headed the visitors into the lead and Francesco Totti missed a chance to equalise from the penalty spot.

But the Roma captain made up for his mistake midway through the second half, when he latched on to Rodrigo Taddei's pass before angling a shot past Olympiakos goalie Antonios Nikopolidis.