Football Champion's League: Zagreb's victory increases pressure

CROATIA ZAGREB completed their first Champions' League win last night, overpowering Group D rivals Sturm Graz 3-0 and opening up a three-way battle with Manchester United and Marseilles for qualification to the latter stages.

Zagreb, managed by Ossie Ardiles, opened the scoring through Tomislav Rukavina in the 27th minute and added a second through Tomo Sokota seven minutes later. Sokota added his second in the 57th minute from the penalty spot leaving the dispirited Austrians facing almost certain elimination.

While Arsenal were fighting out a 1-1 draw in Barcelona the other two teams in the Group, AIK Solna and Fiorentina, shared a 0-0 draw. It was Solna's first point of the tournament and they came back strongly after the break to give the Italians a few scares.

The Chilean striker Marcelo Salas came on at half-time to inspire Lazio to a 4-0 victory over 10-man Maribor in Group A. The Slovenian side's defender Geri Cipi was sent off for a second bookable offence after just 20 minutes at the Olympic Stadium, but it was not until after the break that Lazio hit top gear.

Simone Inzaghi gave them the lead, Portuguese midfielder Sergio Conceicao added a second before Salas grabbed two goals in the space of five minutes. Dynamo Kiev held Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw in the same group after Andriy Gussin had equalised Ulf Kirsten's 52nd-minute strike.