DYNAMO KIEV v ARSENAL 1-1

Arsenal's record with Russian and Ukrainian football teams is nothing short of dreadful, with five visits and five defeats, and last night until the end, it looked like this morbid statistic was only going to grow.

Strange thing is, this time around, Arsenal were the better team on the pitch until the harsh decision by the referee to award Kiev a penalty that put the Ukrainians one ahead, with Ismael Bangoura scoring from the spot.

Theo Walcott had an early chance and once again slit a wonderful ball to Robin Van Persie, who also missed a great chance to give Arsenal the lead in the first half.

Whereas the first half saw an Arsenal side standing firm on its feet and passing the ball around with confidence, the second half the situation shifted gradually more towards Kiev, with Arsenal increasingly becoming more pressurised, with Oleksandr Aliev and Bangoura terrorizing the Arsenal back four.

The penalty itself in the 64th minute was harsh, as Ognjen Vukojević appeared to be doing as much pushing and wrangling about as Bacary Sagna in the box, but in the end the referee saw the Arsenal man to be in fault.

It looked grim and bitter for the Gooners and they were headed for yet another defeat, when William Gallas salvaged a draw with almost an injury time goal, arriving in the 89th minute.

The Gallas goals rescued Arsenal from an embarrassing defeat, although prior to the match, Arsène Wenger had stated that in light of previous performances in Russian and Ukraine, a point taken here would transpire as success.

CELTIC v ALLBORG 0-0

Big disappointment for Celtic as they missed a great opportunity to add three points to their tally against a humble but battling Danish side, Aalborg, in their Champion's League opener at home.

Aalborg were considered the big underdogs; however, that didn't bother them one little bit as they actually had a much stronger first half and outclassed Celtic in from of their own supporters.

To add insult to injury, in a dull Celtic first half performance, Robinson missed a penalty kick in the 28th minute, missing his chance to put Celtic ahead.

This result against the weakest team in the group has dented seriously Celtic's aspirations as they depend on excellent home record to progress to the last 16 in the tournament.

In the second half, Georgios Samaras and Shunsuke Nakamura seemed far more energetic and determined as they hassled the Danish defence frequently, which must have delighted the Celtic supporters as both the Greek and Japanese internationals had a very quiet and dull first 45 minutes.

The Japanese thundered a 25-yard free kick that the Danish keeper Karim Zaza kept away from the net, and a few minutes later Nakamura gave a good pass to Samaras in the box, but the Danish keeper once again managed to frustrate Samaras and his Celtic teammates.

Right at the end of the game, the Greek was given a wonderful opportunity to dislodge the barricaded goal and open the score line, but the fantastic pass he received from Hasselink's was wasted. Instead of hammering the ball in the net, the Greek opted for the ingenious idea of walking the ball to the back of the net, and until he realised what was happening the Danish defenders around him diffused the situation by clearing the ball.

Aalborg performed splendidly and they more than deserved the point. Celtic have put themselves voluntarily in a predicament for which they might later regret.

The rest of the CL games played on Wednesday September 17 are as follows: Steaua Bucureşti v Bayern 0-1; Lyon v Fiorentina 2-2; Porto v Fenerbache 3-1; Juventus v Zenit 1-0; Real Madrid v BATE 2-0