Arsenal all but secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a comfortable 3-0 win over Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb at Emirates Stadium.
Only a heavy defeat in Girona next week will prevent the Gunners – who are third – finishing in the top eight places and therefore bypassing the play-off stage of the competition.
Arsenal took the lead in the second minute when Gabriel Martinelli’s cross was cushioned into Declan Rice’s path by Kai Havertz and the England midfielder hammered the ball past Zagreb keeper Ivan Nevistic.
Havertz added a second on 66 minutes – the 500th goal under manager Mikel Arteta – when he headed in a curling Martinelli cross before captain Martin Odegaard bundled in a third late on.
Zagreb barely ventured into the Arsenal half and captain Arijan Ademi shot well over from distance with one of their few efforts.
The Gunners could have scored more – Rice had a shot blocked after a clever Odegaard pass while centre-back Gabriel headed wide from the edge of the six-yard-box from a corner.
Arteta had said he wanted his side to “capitalise” on the work they had done so far in the group stage to put themselves in a strong position going into the final match.
The Gunners did that from the off – and settled any nerves there may have been when Rice opened the scoring with the earliest Arsenal goal since Yaya Sanogo’s 72-second effort against Borussia Dortmund in 2014.
Once again they looked solid at the back – and only Inter Milan have conceded fewer than the two goals Arteta’s side have let in.
And the Spaniard was handed a boost at being able to name Riccardo Calafiori on the bench alongside Ethan Nwaneri as both returned from injuries.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was not in the squad because of a minor knock, and Arteta will hope he will have the 18-year-old available for selection soon.
But more broadly he will be keen to ensure his side can take their strong home form in Europe – they have lost only one of their past home 26 group-stage games – into the knockout phase
By BBC Sports
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