Nedved nails Bayern as Owen goal enough for Madrid

A late goal from European Footballer of the Year Pavel Nedved gave Juventus a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich last night to put the Italians in command of Champions League Group C.

Zlatan Ibrahmovic headed a long ball from Lilian Thuram into the path of the Czech midfielder in the 76th minute and Nedved confidently fired past Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn.

The result gives Juventus a maximum nine points from three games and moves them close to qualification while Bayern are now three points behind after their first defeat.

Also in Group C, three first-half goals gave Ajax Amsterdam a comfortable 3-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv for their first points in Champions League Group C.

Wesley Sonck opened the scoring on four minutes and headers from Nigel de Jong on 21 minutes and Rafael van der Vaart in the 33rd sealed Ajax’s win before the break.

In Madrid, England striker Michael Owen notched his first goal since joining Real Madrid to give his side an edgy 1-0 win over Dynamo Kiev in Group B the Bernabeu.

The England striker slid in front of two defenders to turn a Ronaldo cross past keeper Olexander Shovkovsky from close range after substitute Santiago Solari had broken quickly from inside his own half 10 minutes before the break.

Although they dominated possession Real never looked comfortable and it was only thanks to some poor finishing from the Dynamo forwards and some fine keeping from Iker Casillas that they did not concede a goal.

Also in Group B, Bayer Leverkusen rallied with three second-half goals to beat AS Roma 3-1, with the Italians finishing with nine men.

Roma began brightly when they took the lead through a Dimitar Berbatov own goal after 26 minutes, but it ended in a third successive Champions League defeat after goals from Roque Junior, Jacek Krzynowek and Franca in injury time to put Leverkusen on six points along with Dynamo Kiev and Real Madrid.

Roma have no points and now have no chance of going through to the next stage.

In Liverpool’s Group A last season’s finalists Monaco made an important step toward the Champions League last sixteen when they powered to a 2-1 victory over Olympiakos Piraeus.

The home side took a flying start with Argentine striker Javier Saviola and Uruguay’s Ernesto Chevanton scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes. However, Olympiakos never gave up and Cyprus forward Yannis Okkas reduced the deficit on the hour.

In Manchester United’s Group D, Olympique Lyon pulled off an important away victory against Fenerbahce.

Juninho Pernambucano put the French side ahead after 55 minutes and Brazilian defender Cris extended Lyon’s lead from a corner on 66 minutes when he sent a free header past Turkish goalkeeper Rustu Recber.

Fenerbahce hit back when Marcio Nobre turned in a cross from Tuncay Sanli.

But Lyon sealed the win in the dying minutes when substitute Pierre-Alain Frau guided the ball past Rustu off a pass from Sylvain Wiltord.

The French side top the group, two points clear of United.