Goal-scoring ace Henry back with a bang for the Gunners
Scores both goals for Arsenal after six- week absence Deisler stars for Bayern in 2- 1 win over Juventus
Thierry Henry returned from a six- week absence with two goals yesterday to push Arsenal closer to the second round of the Champions League with a 2- 0 victory at Sparta Prague.
Bayern Munich edged Juventus 2- 1, while two other leading contenders failed to score. Man U was held to a 0- 0 tie at home by Lille and Panathinaikos kept Barcelona to a 0- 0 draw in Athens. Henry was missing from the Arsenal lineup since sustaining a groin injury after scoring France’s winner in a 1- 0 World Cup qualifying win at Ireland. Henry beat Ian Wright’s career scoring record for the Gunners of 185 goals.
“ Arsenal’s got Henry, who makes the difference,” Sparta coach Stanislav Griga said. “ Henry was unstoppable.” FC Brugge is third in Group A behind Bayern and Juventus after a 1- 0 victory at Rapid Vienna, thanks to Bosko Balaban’s goal in the 75th minute. Greek forward Yannis Anastasiou scored both goals as Ajax beat FC Thun 2- 0 in the other Group B game and now sits five points behind Arsenal. German international Sebastian Deisler scored once and set up another goal for Martin Demichelis to give host Bayern a three- point lead at the top of Group A after beating Juventus. Italian champion Juventus got a last-minute header by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Star- studded Barcelona dropped its first points in a 0- 0 draw at Panathinaikos.
Because the other Group C game also ended in a draw, with Udinese hitting back to tie 1- 1 against Werder Bremen, Barcelona stayed three points ahead.