Arsenal's first win of their Champions League campaign sees them move up to second place in Group F, behind Marseille, who defeated Borussia Dortmund by three goals.
Watch: Chamberlain & Santos Goals vs Olympiacos
Arsenal defeated the Greek side Olympiacos in their second Champions League group game thanks to goals from two of Arsene Wenger's summer signings, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos.
Careless Manchester United Lose Lead
Luckily for all involved with Manchester United, late goals are the clubs speciality, and sure enough, a beautiful cross from Nani met Ashley Young's head perfectly, ending up in the bottom corner of the Base net to secure United's second point in the far harder than expected group stages. Improvement is absolutely needed, with this performance containing a number of very undesirable traits in the teams play which no United fan will enjoy seeing repeated.
Basel began very brightly, catching a United side which may or may not have underestimated their opposition, off-guard. The travelling side were able to create a number of extremely good chances, and United were lucky that they were being bombarded by shots from misfiring and woefully inefficient strikers for much of the game rather than ruthless, clinical finishers which a better side will have possessed.
Danny Welbeck settled the home crowds nerves in the 16th minute, and did so again just sixty seconds later with a very quick double strike to set United on their way to an easy victory. It was the ideal remedy for a shaky start, but apparently did little to cure the problem at the heart of the performance. United were dangerous going forward, most notably in the first half, with the wing play being as cutting and dangerous as ever. This is highlighted by the fact that all of the goals United scored originated from out wide, but attacking was never an issue with the likes of Young, Valencia, Welbeck and Giggs in the side.
The defending was proving to be the real issue. Ferdinand and Evra were poor, with Jones not up to his very high introductory standard, probably because he was left to help out for others mistakes. They did not get close enough to Basel, and the midfield were sloppy in their defensive play too, even when the opposition got in and around the box, they were allowed too much space to pass, move and create problems.
United are not known for conceding a lot of goals, so three in just one game is certainly out of the ordinary. Of course one must allow for injuries to key players, but this team is a very capable and talented one, and certainly should not be letting three goals escape them.
Hopefully, this is simply a one-off performance - a lapse in concentration - a momentary defensive blip on a road to success. The players acknowledge it was a performance out of the ordinary. Michael Carrick said:
"It was a bit of a shock to find ourselves 3-2 down after being 2-0 up. We’ve no excuses, we threw it away. It’s not like us at all."
"Tonight we'll take a draw yet it still feels a bit like a defeat. But we’ll not get too down about it, we’ll move on and bounce back. We have to."While the contest provided much entertainment, with goals galore, slip-ups, penalties and a referee who constantly found himself in the way of play, it will not be something Manchester United want to make a habit of. Tightening the defence will have to be a priority, as well as getting the complacency and sloppiness out of their play.
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Watch: Manchester United 3 - 3 Basel
What an unusual game. Manchester United rarely lose a two goal lead, but a mixture of complacency, poor defending and all round sloppy play led to an almighty scare in their second Champions League group game against FC Basel.
Danny Welbeck fired United ahead with a pair of goals within just two minutes, and Sir Alex Ferguson's side were lucky to still have that lead in tact at half time with the amount of chances the Swiss side created. However, the luck soon ran out, with Basel's persistence finally paying off with three goals in relatively quick succession, including a penalty conceded by Antonio Valencia.
Nani came on and provided a beautiful cross to assist Ashley Young in heading into the bottom corner to save a point. Manchester United are third in their group with two points, with only FC Otelul Gatali who are yet to record a point.
Follow Me on Twitter @DBSFootball
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