Bafetimbi Gomis made amends for a glaring first-half miss with an 83rd-minute goal to give Lyon a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Bafetimbi Gomis scores with seven minutes left to give Lyon a 1-1 draw
- Real Madrid took the lead through former Lyon striker Karim Benzema
- Nicolas Anelka scores both goals as Chelsea win 2-0 away to Copenhagen
- Chelsea’s hopes of qualifying next year boosted as Premier League rivals Tottenham lose
(CNN) — Lyon scored a late equalizer against Real Madrid to deny Karim Benzema a victorious return to his old club on Tuesday, while Chelsea moved towards a place in the Champions League quarterfinals with victory at Copenhagen.
Claude Puel’s Lyon team are now unbeaten in seven encounters with Real in Europe’s top club competition.
Nine-time European champions Real had lost in three previous visits to the Stade de Gerland, and last season were knocked out of the competition at the last-16 stage for the sixth year in a row after losing the first leg 1-0.
But this time, with Champions League-winning coach Jose Mourinho at the helm, the Spanish club have a better chance to end that poor run in next month’s home leg after striker Benzema scored a vital away goal in France.
The 23-year-old, who has struggled to win a regular place since his $50 million signing in 2009, was named as a substitute despite netting in Saturday’s La Liga win over Levante.
It sets things up well for the second leg, where we will hope to qualify in front of our supporters
–Real coach Jose Mourinho
But he made an instant impact after replacing on-loan Togo forward Emmanuel Adebayor in the 64th minute — within 60 seconds he burst into the area and poked a low shot over the line despite a desperate attempt to clear by Cris.
“At home, in the first leg, we would have preferred them not to score,” Puel told reporters. “It’s a bit of a shame, especially because we played a great first half.”
However, Lyon captain Cris made a vital contribution to last season’s semifinalists’ 83rd-minute leveler when he rose highest to head a deflected free-kick into the path of France striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who calmly volleyed past goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Gomis made amends for a poor first-half miss, having blazed a shot over the crossbar with the goal at his mercy in the 34th minute.
Real will be left to rue two efforts that hit the woodwork five minutes after the break.
First Cristiano Ronaldo smashed a free-kick against the far post following a booking to Lyon midfielder Michel Bastos that ruled the Brazilian out of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 16.
Then defender Sergio Ramos, who had just narrowly missed glancing in Ronaldo’s curled effort, headed against the crossbar from Mesut Ozil’s corner.
“In the second half we managed to find spaces and, to begin with, we were closer to a second goal than Lyon were to an equalizer,” Mourinho told reporters.
“But it sets things up well for the second leg, where we will hope to qualify in front of our supporters.”
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti dropped striker Didier Drogba for the trip to Denmark, meaning $80 million signing Fernando Torres returned after being ineligible for the English FA Cup defeat by Everton on Saturday.
But it was France forward Nicolas Anelka who stole the headlines with both goals in a 2-0 victory over Copenhagen, who were playing for the first time since December 5 due to the Danish winter break.
Anelka broke the deadlock in the 17th minute with an opportunist effort after a loose pass by former Chelsea player Jesper Gronkjaer from near the halfway line gave the 31-year-old space to surge forward and drill a low shot past goalkeeper Johan Wiland.
He was again on target nine minutes after the interval, firing his seventh goal of the competition this season from Frank Lampard’s pass.
He made way for Drogba in the 74th minute, then almost immediately Torres had a shot cleared off the line as Chelsea went on to complete a first win since February 1 to lift some of the pressure on Ancelotti ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Spain World Cup winner Torres is still looking for his first goal since leaving Liverpool three weeks ago and endured another frustrating night.
“He played very, very well,” the Italian said. “The key to this game was the work the strikers did, always dangerous. Torres was unlucky he didn’t score, but had a fantastic game.”
Chelsea’s chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League were boosted on Tuesday night when London rivals Tottenham suffered a 3-1 defeat at lowly Blackpool in the English Premier League.
Tottenham, who beat AC Milan in the Champions League last week, would have gone third above Manchester City with victory but instead remained two points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea — who now have a game in hand.
Blackpool captain Charlie Adam, who almost joined Tottenham on the last day of the January transfer window, opened the scoring with an 18th-minute penalty and striker D.J. Campbell continued his scoring run with the second goal just before halftime.
Substitute Brett Ormerod made it 3-0 with 10 minutes to play, while Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a consolation in time added on with a deflected long-range effort as he started in place of San Siro match-winner Peter Crouch.
The victory lifted Blackpool into 12th place, five points above the relegation zone.
Chelsea’s aspirations face a big test next Tuesday at home to Premier League leaders Manchester United, who have a 12-point advantage over Ancelotti’s defending champions and can extend that at Wigan on Saturday.