Chelsea and Manchester united both scored late Tuesday to reach the next round of the Champions League.Manchester United was trailing 3-1 with six minutes left, but Paul Scholes and Antonio Valencia scored to give last season’s runner-up the point it needed to advance to the first knockout round.
Didier Drogba scored help Chelsea 2-1 up at Atletico Madrid, although the 2008 finalist conceded an injury-time goal to Sergio Aguero and drew 2-2.
Bordeaux won 1-0 win at Bayern Munich, and FC Porto’s 1-0 win at APOEL Nicosia eliminated the other Group D sides, while AC Milan and Real Madrid still have qualification to play for following their 1-1 draw in Italy.
United manager Alex Ferguson rested several key players and watched his much-changed side defend poorly to slip 3-1 behind before he brought on Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra for the last half hour.
Rooney provided menace in attack and Scholes headed in a right-wing cross, before Valencia got a deflected tying goal in the second minute of added time.
Although Ferguson could point to the referee’s mistake in booking Darren Fletcher for diving when he should have awarded United a penalty, the three-time European champions simply gave CSKA too much room to attack.
Alan Dzagoev put CSKA ahead in the 25th minute with a shot from a narrow angle and, although Michael Owen tied it, Milos Krasnic made it 2-1 with a turn and shot after more slack defending.
The unmarked Aleksei Berezutski scored at the start of the second half with a header when the United defense allowed a free kick from the left to reach him at the far post.
“Their goalkeeper made some fantastic saves,” Ferguson said. “We lost three goals at home and you don’t like that.
“But I can’t believe how many chances we did create.”
Wolfsburg moved to seven points, three fewer than United and three more than CSKA after a 3-0 win at Besiktas in the other Group B match.
Chelsea looked to be heading to a first defeat in Group D when Atletico substitute Aguero volleyed his team ahead in the 66th.
But Drogba marked his first Champions League match this season with a header in the 82nd and solo goal six minutes later. The Ivory Coast striker was back in the Chelsea side following a three-match suspension for his post-match tantrum in last season’s semifinal loss to Barcelona.
Atletico lost 4-0 to Chelsea two weeks ago but Aguero tied it with a curling free kick beyond goalkeeper Petr Cech.
“We could have done better,” Drogba said. “It’s really frustrating when you concede a goal like this.”
Yoann Gourcuff and Marouane Chamakh scored to take Bordeaux to 10 points in Group A, two more than Juventus and six ahead of four-time European champion Bayern, which is on the verge of elimination.
Under-pressure Bayern coach Louis van Gaal brought on winger Arjen Robben at the start of the second half and then introduced striker Mario Gomez but his team could not convert its majority possession.
Juventus beat Maccabi Haifa 1-0 in Israel in the other Group A game.
Milan and Real Madrid remain tied at the top of Group C, just a point ahead of a Marseille side that routed FC Zurich 6-1.
Clarence Seedorf gave Madrid the chance to attack for its opening goal when he gave away possession in midfield. Kaka carried the ball to the edge of the area and goalkeeper Dida parried his shot to let Karim Benzema score from the rebound.
But Madrid’s lead lasted just six minutes. Defender Pepe handled the ball in the area and Ronaldinho smashed the resulting penalty kick high into the net past goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Lyon puts the tournament’s last perfect record on the line Wednesday when it hosts a Liverpool team desperate for victory. Arsenal hosts AZ Alkmaar and Inter Milan is at Dynamo Kiev in another of the day’s eight games.
