Chelsea hit back and Ibra foils Ajax

Chelsea returned to form in convincing fashion with a 2-0 victory over French champions Marseille in the Champions League yesterday.

Former Ajax striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic dealt the Dutch side a major blow when he hit Milan’s equaliser in a 1-1 Group G draw and Arsenal beat 10-man Partizan Belgrade 3-1 away despite missing a penalty in a match where Gunners goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski restored some of his tarnished ­reputation.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea had suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season at Manchester City on Saturday just days after crashing out of the League Cup against Newcastle.

But there was no prolonged hangover from those setbacks as the English champions brushed aside Marseille at Stamford Bridge thanks to an early goal from John Terry and Nicolas Anelka’s first-half penalty.

The win left Chelsea top of Group F ahead of Spartak Moscow on goal difference after two games of their latest bid to win Europe’s elite club competition for the first time.

Didier Deschamps’s side occasionally caused Chelsea a few nervous moments with their smooth build-up play, but they lacked the cutting edge to break through and, crucially, always looked jittery at the back.

During the match, Marseille’s vociferous band of travelling supporters subjected French stars Anelka and Florent Malouda to some ferocious abuse in the opening moments.

Despite being without the injured Ronaldinho, old Ajax favourites Clarence Seedorf and Ibrahimovic did start and they combined in the 37th minute to pull Milan level.

Seedorf released the big striker, who controlled the ball on his chest before firing past Maarten Stekelenburg from close range.

It was Ibrahimovic’s third goal in the tournament this season, having scored twice in the opening 2-0 win over Auxerre.

Ajax, who were defeated 2-0 by Real Madrid in their opener, had taken the lead in the 23rd minute, with Uruguay international striker Luis Suarez playing a crucial role.

Suarez missed the defeat in Madrid but he made up for lost time when he cheekily pushed the ball between the legs of veteran defender Alessandro Nesta out on the left.

He then played a low ball across the area for Moroccan international Mounir El Hamdaoui to turn and shoot past Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.

From the same group, a late strike from substitute Angel di Maria earned Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid a narrow 1-0 win over Auxerre.

The visitors dominated the game in terms of possession and territory but looked destined for their third goalless draw of the season until Di Maria struck with nine minutes to play.

Real top Group G with six points, but the three points long looked far from a formality on an awkward night for the nine-time European champions at a packed Stade Abbe-Deschamps.

In Belgrade, Arsenal wasted several chances after Andrey Arshavin gave them a 15th-minute and then saw Partizan draw level through Brazil-born striker Cleo.

Then, after Marko Jovanovic was sent off early in the second half, Arshavin saw his resulting penalty saved by goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic before striker Marouane Chamakh restored the London club’s lead 19 minutes from time.

Sebastien Squillaciheaded in substitute Samir Nasri’s corner to make it 3-1 in the 82nd minute

There was still time for Partizan to force a penalty but Fabianski, in for the injured and equally under-fire Manuel Almunia, dived to his right to save Cleo’s spot-kick.

Victory gave Arsenal two wins out of two in Group H after they thrashed Braga 6-0 in their opener while Partizan were left searching for their first points having lost 1-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first round.

Roma off the mark

Roma took revenge on CFR Cluj and got their Champions League challenge off the mark with a 2-1 victory at the Stadio Olimpico.

Goals from French centre-back Philippe Mexes and Italy striker Marco Borriello secured the Romans their first Group E points despite Ionut Rada’s late consolation.

Following their 2-0 defeat at Bayern Munich two weeks ago, Claudio Ranieri’s men now sit third in the group on three points – level with Cluj – ahead of a double-header against FC Basel.

Two years ago on their Champions League debut, Cluj had stunned the hosts in Rome with a 2-1 success but there was to be no repeat despite the Romanians twice hitting the woodwork.

Bastian Schweinsteiger led a second-half comeback by Bayern Munich against Swiss league champions Basel to earn a 2-1 victory.

Basel had taken an early lead when Alexander Frei opened the scoring with a superb goal on 18 minutes before Schweinsteiger netted a second-half penalty followed by an 89th-minute tap in.

Summaries

Roma 2
Mexes 69; Borriello 71;
Cluj 1
Rada 78;

Basel 1
Frei 18;
B. Munich 2
Schweinsteiger 56p, 89;

S. Moscow 3
Ari 34, 61; Ibson 89;
Zilina 0

Chelsea 2
Terry 7; Anelka 28 pen;
Marseille 0

Ajax 1
El Hamdaoui 23;
Milan 1
Ibrahimovic 37;

Auxerre 0
R. Madrid 1
Di Maria 81;

Braga 0
S. Donetsk 3
Adriano 56, 72; Costa 90 pen;

P. Belgrade 1
Cleo 33 pen;
Arsenal 3
Arshavin 15; Chamakh 71; Squillaci 82;

Red card: Jovanovic (PB) 57;
Missed penalties: Arshavin 57; Cleo 84;

Playing today

Group A
Tottenham - Twente
Inter - W. Bremen

Group B
H. Tel Aviv - O. Lyon
Schalke 04 - Benfica

Group C
Valencia - Man. United
Rangers - Bursaspor

Group D
Rubin Kazan - Barcelona
PanathinaikosFC - Copenhagen