Second-half strikes from Robin van Persie and Andrey Ashavin earned Arsenal a 2-0 Champions League win over Olympiakos at The Emirates.
Veteran Greek keeper Antonis Nikopolidis frustrated the Gunners for much of this Group H clash, repelling almost everything the hosts could throw at him until van Persie finally broke the deadlock with 12 minutes remaining, prior to Arshavin's beautiful finish late on.
Veteran Greek keeper Antonis Nikopolidis frustrated the Gunners for much of this Group H clash, repelling almost everything the hosts could throw at him until van Persie finally broke the deadlock with 12 minutes remaining, prior to Arshavin's beautiful finish late on.
The Gunners spent the vast majority of the first period camped in the Greeks' half, but a combination of keeper, woodwork and poor finishing saw the score remain goalless at the break.
Cesc Fabregas came closest to breaking the deadlock in the early exchanges, when the Arsenal skipper saw his left-footed strike from just outside the box bounce back off the crossbar, while Nikopolidis was in inspired form to deny Tomas Rosicky, Fabregas, Arshavin and van Persie.
Vito Mannone, the Gunners' hero in the weekend victory over Fulham, was called upon to make his first and only real save of the game just after the break, when the young Italian stopper clawed away a header from former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg following a rare Olympiakos corner.
Nikopolidis, who caught little but stopped almost everything, kept out van Persie again with 17 minutes remaining, moments before superbly parrying Abou Diaby's downward header around the post. The Greek keeper was finally beaten, however, on 73 minutes.
Substitute Eduardo got in on the left side of the Olympiakos box and instead of shooting from a narrow angle, the Croatian striker chose to square the ball across goal, taking Nikopolidis out of the equation and leaving van Persie with a close-range tap-in to an empty net.
Having finally grabbed a deserved lead, the Gunners could relax a little, and their second was a result of a beautiful flowing move culminating in a wonderful finish from Arshavin.
The Russian was involved in the build-up as the Gunners finally worked the ball out to Fabregas on the right. The skipper picked out Arshavin in the box, who despite looking offside, found the net with a right-footed flick behind his standing foot.
Fabregas was booked for needless lunge late on but that won't take the gloss off a good result and fine performance from Arsene Wenger's men, who have now claimed maximum points from their two Champions League games and sit three points clear at the top of Group H.
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