Olivier Giroud inspired Arsenal to complete a Champions League group stage comeback as his hattrick at Olympiakos sealed their place in the last 16.
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Going into the game having lost three of their previous five fixtures, the Gunners needed to win by two goals or more, or better the 3-2 defeat they suffered at home to the Greek champions in September.
Arsene Wenger recalled Theo Walcott after his recovery from a calf problem – but it was Giroud who produced the goods when it mattered as Arsenal made light work of a seemingly difficult task to seal a 3-0 win.
Arsenal become just the eighth side to advance having taken three points or fewer from their opening four matches and Wenger will now be hoping to avoid the big names as they will come up against a group winner in the next round.
Jose Mourinho received a slice of luck and another reprieve as Chelsea advanced to the knockout stages of the Champions League as Group G winners with a 2-0 victory over his former club Porto.
The Blues, toiling domestically to put Mourinho’s job in jeopardy, had some good fortune when Iker Casillas saved Diego Costa’s shot and the ball ricocheted in off Ivan Marcano.
And when Willian, Chelsea’s star player this season, doubled the lead seven minutes into the second half, Mourinho turned towards his son seated behind the dugout and punched the air in defiance.
Mourinho has a cheeky dig at his best mate Iker Casillas: “Now Casillas can win the only trophy he hasn’t won. The Europa League.”
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) December 10, 2015
Emotion was etched on his face and the home faithful sang the manager’s name. Blues owner Roman Abramovich applauded in his seat opposite in Stamford Bridge’s West Stand, sharing in high fives with those around him.
Dynamo Kiev will join the Blues in the next round after Denys Garmash’s goal gave them a 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Elsewhere, Gary Neville’s first game in charge of Valencia ended in misery as their 2-0 home defeat to Lyon saw them drop into the Europa League. Maxwel Cornet and Alexandre Lacazette got the goals for Les Gones.
Incredibly, that means Gent, 2-1 winners over Zenit, join the Russians in the last 16.
In Group E, Lionel Messi scored the 80th Champions League goal of his Barcelona career but the La Liga champions were held 1-1 at Bayer Leverkusen, for whom Javier Hernandez struck an equaliser.
Bayer go into the Europa League as Roma stayed ahead of them with a 0-0 draw with BATE.
