Matchday 1 underway as 10-man Liverpool earns draw at Porto

Soccer Betting Lines

09/18/2007 - Lisbon, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ten-man Liverpool FC came from a goal down to start their UEFA Champions League Group A schedule with a point at Porto as Matchday 1 got underway Tuesday.

Liverpool, a five-time champion of Europe's most prestigious club tournament, fell behind early at Estadio do Dragao with Lucho Gonzalez beating Pepe Reina from the penalty spot after the Liverpool goalkeeper had knocked down Tarik Sektioui, who broke into the box after a ball from the offensive third.

The visitors answered less than 10 minutes later on their first real threat of the game after a Steve Finnan cross into the box. The ball was then headed back across by Sami Hyypia to Dirk Kuyt, who headed home for his first UEFA Champions League goal for Liverpool.

Porto, which was the more aggressive side for much of the contest, was given a boost in the 58th minute when Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant was shown his second yellow for a hard tackle. But the home side was unable to capitalize on the advantage as Liverpool packed its defense in and limited the chances against.

In the other Group A match Tuesday, Marseille earned a 2-0 victory over Besiktas to take the top spot early on. Second-half goals by Julien Rodriguez and Djibril Cisse were the difference in the game.

In Group B action, Norwegian side Rosengord earned a 1-1 draw with English Premier League giants, Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge. Miika Koppinen got the final touch to an in-swinging free kick in the 24th minute to give the underdogs the early lead before Andriy Shevchenko headed home a Florent Malouda cross in the 53rd minute. In the other Group B match, David Villa struck midway through the second half to give Valencia a 1-0 win at Bundesliga side Schalke 04 to take the top spot in the group.

Group C saw defending La Liga Champions Real Madrid earn a 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen behind goals by Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Those goals were scored on either side Werder's Boubacar Sanogo's tally. The other match in the group saw Olympiakos draw 1-1 with Lazio. A late goal from captain Luciano Zauri gave Lazio the share of the points after winger Luciano Galletti gave the home side the early lead. The game was played behind closed doors as a UEFA punishment for crowd trouble at Olympiakos's home match with AS Roma last season.

In Group D, AC Milan opened the defense of their Champions League crown with a 2-1 win over Benfica after first-half goals by Andrea Pirlo and Filippo Inzaghi. Nuno Gomes scored a late goal for Benfica to pull one back. The other Group D match saw defending Scottish Champions Celtic FC fall to Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 after the Ukrainian side scored two quick goals eight minutes in. Brazilian striker Brandao opened before Cristiano Lucarelli added a second with a diving header two minutes later.

UEFA Champions League Groups E, F, G and H open play Wednesday to close out Matchday 1 of the European club championship.

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