Arsenal are through to the Champions League Round of 16 courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsene Wenger's Gunners needed to avoid defeat to the Bundesliga outfit in order to book their spot in the final 16 of Europe's premier club competition but things went better than expected in north London.
Yaya Sanogo finally shrugged off his tag of 'Yaya Sanogoal' to put Arsenal ahead in just the second minute when stroking home between the legs of Roman Weidenfeller after a deft through ball from Santi Cazorla.
Arsenal created more of the chances at home and should have been two ahead on a number occasions but they got their reward when Alexis Sanchez netted with a fine curling effort in the 57th minute for his 13th goal in 19 appearances in all competitions since arriving at the Emirates.
The win places Wenger's side in clear second spot on the Group D table with 10 points form five matches, two behind leaders Dortmund, and five ahead of Anderlecht who beat Galatasaray 2-0 in Belgium tonight.
Liverpool's return to European football has not quite gone to plan after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Bulgarian minnows Ludogorets Razgrad in Sofia.
Ludogorets took the lead through Dani Abalo on three minutes before Rickie Lambert responded five minutes later prior to Jordan Henderson's go-ahead goal late in the first half.
But Georgi Terziev came up with an 88th-minute leveler for Ludogorets who have recorded four points from their five matches in Europe's top flight.
Progression to the Round of 16 is now solely in Liverpool's hands as they require victory over FC Basel, who are second in Group B on six points, at Anfield on December 9.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 56th goal in his 56th Champions League appearance for Real Madrid as they edged Basel 1-0 in Switzerland which has the reigning European champions nine points clear at the top of the table with just their visit of Ludogorets to come.
Elsewhere, Mario Mandzukic helped himself to a treble of goals as Atletico Madrid comfortably accounted for Olympiakos 4-0 in Spainto confirm their spot in the next phase.
In the other Group A fixture, Juventus overcame Malmo 2-0 in Sweden to move into second spot ahead of the December 9 meeting with Atletico which could define their status in the final 16.
And in the Group C fixtures, Zenit Saint Petersburg beat Benfica 1-0 while Monaco edged Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in Germany to set up an enthralling final matchday.
Leverkusen are on top of the group table with nine points from five matches with Monaco one behind on eight and Zenit a further point in arrears.
Bayer are already through to the next phase but will be joined by either Zenit or Monaco dependent on the result in France in two weeks' time.
2014/15 UEFA Champions League - group stage scores
Group A
Atletico Madrid (SPN): 4 (Raul Garcia 9', Mario Mandzukic 38'/62'/65') Olympiakos (GRE): 0 Estadio Vicente Calderon, Madrid, Spain - 51,000
Malmo (SWE): 0 (red card: Erik Johansson 89') Juventus (ITA): 2 (Fernando Llorente 49', Carlos Tevez 88') Swedbank Stadion, Malmo, Sweden - 24,000
Group B
Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL): 2 (Dani Abalo 3', Georgi Terziev 88') Liverpool (ENG): 2 (Rickie Lambert 8', Jordan Henderson 37') Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria - 6,300
FC Basel (SUI): 0 Real Madrid (SPN): 1 (Cristiano Ronaldo 35') St Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland - 38,500
Group C
Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS): 1 (Danny 79') Benfica (POR): 0 (red card: Luisao 90+2') Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia - 18,000
Bayer Leverkusen (GER): 0 Monaco (FRA): 1 (Lucas Ocampos 72') BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - 26,000
Group D
Arsenal (ENG): 2 (Yaya Sanogo 2', Alexis Sanchez 57') Borussia Dortmund (GER): 0 Emirates Stadium, London, England - 59,902
Anderlecht (BEL): 2 (Chancel Mbemba 44'/86') Galatasaray (TUR): 0 Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels, Belgium - 21,500
