Arsenal qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League for the 15th successive season when they ended Borussia Dortmund’s 100 per cent record in Group D with a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.
Fernando Llorente on his way to scoring against Malmo.Atletico Madrid also swept into the last 16 with a game to spare as Mario Mandzukic netted a hat-trick in a crushing 4-0 win at home to Olympiakos in Group A as second-half strikes from Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez gave Juventus a gritty 2-0 win over Malmo, the Italian side’s first away victory in the group stage for two years.
Arsenal needed only 73 seconds to take the lead with 21-year-old French striker Yaya Sanogo scoring his first goal for the club and the Gunners sealed victory when Alexis Sanchez curled in a wonderful strike from 20 metres.
It was his third goal in five Champions League appearances in the competition proper for Arsenal, the same total he managed in 24 games for Barcelona.
Borussia top the table with 12 points from their five games, but Arsenal can now pip them to first place if they win their last match at Galatasaray and Borussia lose to Anderlecht, who like Galatasaray, are eliminated.
Atletico, last season’s beaten finalists, secured a fourth straight victory since falling 3-2 to the Greek side in their opening game in September and have 12 points from five matches, three ahead of second-placed Juventus.
After a typically intense start from the home side, Raul Garcia struck in the ninth minute following a howler from Olympiakos goalkeeper Roberto and another defensive error let in Mandzukic to tap home seven minutes before the break.
The Croatia forward made it 3-0 when he nodded in an Arda Turan cross and he completed his treble with another header from Gabi’s free-kick three minutes later.
Llorente broke the deadlock four minutes into the second half, latching on to Claudio Marchisio’s through ball and charging from the halfway line before rounding Robin Olsen and slotting the ball home.
Tevez netted a late second in the 88th minute to complete their first Champions League away win since they beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 in December 2012.
Malmo had their fair share of chances but failed to find the net and cannot now qualify for the knockout stages.
Juventus and Atletico meet in Turin in their final group game on Dec. 9, with the Serie A champions needing a point to ensure qualification.
Ronaldo strikes
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 71st Champions League goal, putting him three behind Lionel Messi’s record, to give Real Madrid a 1-0 win at FC Basel as they maintained their 100 per cent record in Group B.
The Portuguese scored from close range after Karim Benzema got to the byline and pulled the ball back as he equalled former Real Madrid forward Raul’s Champions League tally.
Real Madrid, who made sure of top spot in the group with 15 points, chalked up their 15th successive win in all competitions although they had to survive a difficult second half against the Swiss champions, who refused to go down without a fight.
Despite their defeat, Basel, who have six points from five games, can still qualify for the last 16 if they draw at Liverpool in their final game.
Liverpool’s Champions League hopes remain alive after their first goals in the competition since mid-September but a late Ludogorets equaliser saw them leave Bulgaria disappointed.
A dogged performance with few of the hallmarks of manager Brendan Rodgers’s preferred way of playing brought an end to a four-match losing run and would have repaired some badly damaged confidence had it not been for that late lapse in the Vasil Levski National Stadium, their hosts’ home from home due to their own ground not meeting UEFA criteria.
They did, however, show resilience to recover from goalkeeper Simon Mignolet’s third-minute blunder as Rickie Lambert scored his second in as many games before Jordan Henderson scored the vital second just before half-time, only for Georgi Terziev to nick an equaliser to secure a 2-2 draw at the death.
Zenit St Petersburg set up a winner-takes-all clash with Monaco for a place in the knockout stages after Danny’s goal gave them a nervy 1-0 win against Benfica in Group C.
Benfica ended the match with 10 men after Luisao was sent off for a second bookable offence after a lunging tackle.
Monaco stunned Bayer Lever-kusen 1-0 with a goal against the run of play from substitute Lucas Ocampos to revive their qualifying hopes and scupper the Germans’ plans to top Group C with a game to spare.
The result left Bayer on top on nine points with Monaco on eight and Zenit on seven going into the last matchday.
Summaries
Atl. Madrid 4
Garcia 9; Mandzukic 38, 62; Mandzukic 65;
Olympiakos 0
Malmo 0
Juventus 2
Llorente 49; Tevez 88;
Red card: Johansson (M) 89.
Ludogorets 2
Abalo 3; Terziev 88;
Liverpool 2
Lambert 8; Henderson 37;
Basel 0
Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo 35;
Zenit SP 1
Danny 79;
Benfica 0
B. L’erkusen 0
Monaco 1
Ocampos 72;
Anderlecht 2
Mbemba 44, 86;
Galatasaray 0
Red card: Inan (G) 83.
Arsenal 2
Sanogo 2; Sanchez 57;
B. Dortmund 0
Group A
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Atl. Madrid | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 12 |
| Juventus | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 9 |
| Olympiakos | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 6 |
| Malmo | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 3 |
Olympiakos vs A. Madrid - 3-2
Juventus vs Malmo - 2-0
Malmo vs Olympiakos - 2-0
Atl. Madrid vs Juventus - 1-0
Atl. Madrid vs Malmo - 5-0
Olympiakos vs Juventus - 1-0
Malmo vs Atl. Madrid - 0-2
Juventus vs Olympiakos - 3-2
Atl. Madrid vs Olympiakos - 4-0
Malmo vs Juventus - 0-2
09/12/14: Olympiakos vs Malmo
09/12/14: Juventus vs A. Madrid
Group B
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| R. Madrid | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 15 |
| Basel | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Liverpool | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
| Ludogorets | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 4 |
Liverpool vs Ludogorets - 2-1
R. Madrid vs Basel - 5-1
Basel vs Liverpool - 1-0
Ludogorets vs Real Madrid - 1-2
Ludogorets vs Basel - 1-0
Liverpool vs Real Madrid - 0-3
Basel vs Ludogorets - 4-0
R. Madrid vs Liverpool - 1-0
Ludogorets vs Liverpool - 2-2
Basel vs Real Madrid - 0-1
09/12/14: Liverpool vs Basel
09/12/14: R. Madrid vs Ludogorets
Group C
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| B. Leverkusen | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 9 |
| Monaco | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Zenit SP | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Benfica | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
Monaco vs Bayer Leverkusen - 1-0
Benfica vs Zenit SP - 0-2
Zenit SP vs Monaco - 0-0
B. Leverkusen vs Benfica - 3-1
B. Leverkusen vs Zenit SP - 2-0
Monaco vs Benfica - 0-0
Zenit vs Leverkusen - 1-2
Benfica vs Monaco - 1-0
Zenit SP vs Benfica - 1-0
B. Leverkusen vs Monaco - 0-1
09/12/14: Monaco vs Zenit SP
09/12/14: Benfica vs B. Leverkusen
Group D
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| B. Dortmund | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 12 |
| Arsenal | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 10 |
| Anderlecht | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 5 |
| Galatasaray | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 1 |
Galatasaray vs Anderlecht - 1-1
B. Dortmund vs Arsenal - 2-0
Arsenal vs Galatasaray - 4-1
Anderlecht vs B. Dortmund - 0-3
Anderlecht vs Arsenal - 1-2
Galatasaray vs B. Dortmund - 0-4
Arsenal vs Anderlecht - 3-3
B. Dortmund vs Galatasaray - 4-1
Anderlecht vs Galatasaray - 2-0
Arsenal vs B. Dortmund - 2-0
09/12/14: Galatasaray vs Arsenal
09/12/14: B. Dortmund vs Anderlecht