Gunned down!
Arsenal's hopes of reaching the UEFA Champions League knockout phase were left hanging by a thread last Wednesday after they were thrashed 5-1 by Bayern Munich, while Chelsea revived their faltering campaign with a nervy 2-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev.
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Zenit St. Petersburg became the third team to reach the last 16 of the competition as the Russian champions maintained their 100 per cent record with a 2-0 win at Lyon, while Barcelona edged closer towards qualification after strolling past BATE Borisov 3-0.
Bayern's unbeaten start to the season was ended by a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal a fortnight ago, but Pep Guardiola's side exacted revenge at the Allianz Arena. Robert Lewandowski headed Bayern into a 10th-minute lead as Arsenal's attempt to catch the Poland striker offside backfired.
A brace from Thomas Mueller and goals from David Alaba and substitute Arjen Robben put the game beyond doubt for Bayern, before Olivier Giroud's acrobatic effort pulled one back for the Gunners.
A chastening evening for the Londoners was made all the more damaging as Olympiakos recovered from a goal down to beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1, leaving Arsenal six points behind the Greeks, and Bayern, with two games to play.
Meanwhile, beleaguered Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho was a much-relieved man after Willian helped steer the Blues past their Ukrainian opponents. Chelsea took a first-half lead at Stamford Bridge when Willian's right-wing cross was headed into his own net by Aleksandar Dragovic, only for the Austrian to atone with a 78th minute equaliser. But Willian curled in a superb free-kick seven minutes from time to hand the hosts all three points and bump them up to second in Group G, two points above Kiev.
Porto remain top of the section after easing to a 3-1 win away to bottom side Maccabi Tel-Aviv — Cristian Tello, Andre Andre and Miguel Layun all on target for the Portuguese outfit in Israel.
Neymar netted a 31st-minute penalty and added a late second with Luis Suarez also grabbing a goal at the Camp Nou as Barcelona cruised past BATE Borisov to leave the holders five points clear atop Group E.
