Arsenal needed to win and hope that Bayern Munich beat Olympiakos to ensure that a victory by two goals – or by a margin of one if they score three goals – in Greece in their final group game would send them into the knockout phase.
Bayern fulfilled their part of the bargain and Arsenal had no trouble with a Dinamo side who beat them in the earlier fixture in Croatia.
Man of the match Mesut Ozil headed them in front after 29 minutes and Alexis Sanchez added a second four minutes later before the Chile forward rounded off a fine second half move to give Arsenal the convincing win their superiority deserved.
Midfielder Ozil has had his critics since making the £42.4m move to Arsenal from Real Madrid in September 2013 – but he has arguably been the Gunners’ most influential player this season.
The elegant Germany international has become the goal-maker supreme, setting a Premier League record with an assist in his seventh successive game when Olivier Giroud put Arsenal ahead at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
And he was pulling all the strings here as Arsenal kept their Champions League campaign on track, not only by displaying a wonderful range of perfectly-measured passing, but by breaking the deadlock and easing nerves inside the stadium with his diving header.
Ozil’s languid style sees him painted as something of an enigma, but when he moves so silkily, dictating the tempo in this fashion, he looks a player of the highest quality.
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