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On Tuesday, the first five matches of the last qualifying stage of the UEFA Champions League - knockout matches - were played.
London's "Arsenal" club successfully started the season, defeating Italy's "Udinese" 1-0 at home after a tough battle. Theo Walcott scored the only goal of the match early on after a pass from the flank.
However, the visitors had opportunities to equalize and came close to scoring several times, but the London team held on.
After conceding a goal, "Lyon" bounced back and celebrated a convincing 3-1 victory at home against Kazan's "Rubin."
The Russian team scored a goal in the 3rd minute, when Vladimir Dyadyun found the net, but soon after, Bafetimbi Gomis restored balance with a great strike from play. Just before the break, after a ricochet with defender Solomon Kverkvelia, the ball ended up in the "Rubin" goal again. In the 71st minute, after a precise combination, Jimmy Briand defeated the opponents' goalkeeper.
Lithuania's goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis, representing the Kazan team, remained on the bench.
Meanwhile, Panevezys's "Ekranas" held a home match against Graz's "Sturm" to a 1-1 draw.
Results:
London's "Arsenal" 1 - 0 "Udinese" 4' [1 - 0] T.Walcott
Barysau's BATE 1 - 1 Graz's "Sturm" 12' [0 - 1] M. Weber 59' [1 - 1] M. Simic
"Copenhagen" 1 - 3 Plzen's "Viktoria" 52' [0 - 1] S. Ottesen (own goal) 59' [0 - 2] V. Pilar 69' [1 - 2] S. Ottesen 79' [1 - 3] M. Fillo
Enschede's "Twente" 2 - 2 Lisbon's "Benfica" 6' [1 - 0] L.d. Jong 21' [1 - 1] O. Cardozo 35' [1 - 2] Nolito 80' [2 - 2] B. Ruiz
"Lyon" 3 - 1 Kazan's "Rubin" 3' [0 - 1] V. Dyadyun 10' [1 - 1] B. Gomis 40' [2 - 1] S. Kverkvelya (own goal) 71' [3 - 1] J. Briand
