Liverpool and Arsenal lost out on vital points last night by losing and drawing their respective games against Lyon and AZ Alkmaar in the Champions League.

Lyon piled the pressure on Liverpool with a 2-1 Champions League Group E win at Anfield to condemn the Reds to their fourth straight loss.

The Reds went into the match needing a morale-boosting victory to lift spirits ahead of Sunday’s colossal showdown with champions Manchester United.

But Maxime Gomis’ second-half header pulled Lyon level, before Cesar Delgado stunned Anfield into silence with an injury-time winner.

Liverpool now sit in third place in the group, six points behind Lyon and three adrift of Fiorentina.

Arsenal paid the price for a sloppy second half as AZ Alkmaar equalised in stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw in Champions League Group H.

Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas has been in sparkling form for Arsene Wenger’s men, and opened the scoring at the DSB Stadium after coolly slotting home a simple tap-in on 36 minutes.

But they paid for taking their foot off the gas in the second period. The hosts grew in confidence before finally grabbing an equaliser in the dying seconds, when a free-kick into the box was headed into the path of David Mendes Da Silva, who gave Vito Mannone no chance at all with a rasping volley from 15 yards out.

Wenger’s men still top the group on seven points – but the Frenchman will feel it is two points dropped rather than one banked.

Source: premierleague.com

Pic: supersport.co.za