CSKA Moscow came from behind to beat German champions Wolfsburg 2-1 in the Russian capital on Wednesday evening and keep their hopes of progress to the last 16 of the Champions League alive.
Three points behind Wolfsburg at the start of the game, CSKA knew that anything less than a win would see them slip out of contention for a knockout stage place. Having lost 3-1 in Germany, the Russians were also aware that a 2-0 victory would give them the head-to-head advantage.
The former Red Army side started strongly, with Alan Dzagoyev and Serb Milos Krasic, a reported Chelsea and Liverpool target, finding plenty of space to launch attacks. But it was the Germans who took the lead against the run of play, Edin Dzeko shooting past Igor Akinfeev in the 19th minute.
CSKA poured forward in search of the equalizer, but had to wait until the 58th minute to level, Tomas Necid heading home after a Yevgeny Aldonin cross. It was Krasic, undoubted man-of-the-match, who then fired CSKA ahead, curving a glorious long range shot past Diego Benaglio in the 66th minute.
The Russian side now need to win their final Group B against Besiktas in Turkey on December 8 and hope that Wolfsburg fail to beat the already qualified Manchester United in Germany.
"Not everything depends on us now," CSKA trainer Leonid Slutsky told the NTV channel after the final whistle. "We still have a chance of qualifying, but have to win our own match and keep an eye on Manchester's game."
MOSCOW, November 25 (RIA Novosti)
