MEDIA RELEASE
SPORTS NEWS
Thursday 4th October 2012
AFC Ajax score five against Molde - Manchester City draw in Istanbul, Arsenal frustrated by Olympiacos -
AFC Ajax were in impressive form yet again tonight, putting five past Norwegians Molde FK. The Dutch had already recorded a 5-0 victory against Molde in their away leg last month and were keen to keep the pressure on this evening at the famed De Toekomst academy. Ricardo Kishna opened the scoring after just eleven minutes with a fine strike before the curent NextGen top goalscorer Viktor Fischer and Abdel El Hasnaoui added their names to the scoresheet before half-time. After the break Ajax remained confident on the ball and El Hasnaoui scored his second on the hour mark before Sinan Keskin made it 5-0 in added time. Ajax remain in second position in Group 3 with six points, having played two games less than leaders CSKA Moscow.
Meanwhile, Manchester City ground out a 1-1 draw in Istanbul this evening against a strong Fenerbahce side to go top of Group 2, alongside Juventus. Neither side could gain control of a scrappy first half with limited opportunities for both teams. After the break Denis Suarez, who impressed throughout the ninety minutes, grabbed an important away goal for City to take them into the lead. The Blues looked good for the win had it not been for an unfortunate own goal from Greg Leigh on seventy minutes. Suarez went close on the final whistle but the score remained 1-1 to leave both sides with a point apiece.
In tonight's final fixture, Arsenal were left to rue missed opportunities as Olympiacos held them to a 0-0 draw at Barnet FC's Underhill Stadium. The Gunners looked lively in possesion, with Kris Olsson and Serge Gnabry looking dangerous througout. Chuba Akpom had chances to take Arsenal into the lead but it was a frustrating night for the home side. Olympiacos had their chances too, but lacked the quality in the final third to grab the lead. Both sides are on four points after their opening three fixtures.
The full time scores, and scorers, for the opening games were:
Fenerbahce 1 (o.g Leigh 68’) vs. Manchester City 1 (Suarez 49’)
Arsenal FC 0 vs. Olympiacos 0
AFC Ajax 5 (Kishna 11', Fischer 31', El Hasnaoui 37, 67', Keskin 90') vs. Molde FK 0
To see how these results leave the group tables click here.