Robin van Persie and Andrei Arshavin scored late goals to give Arsenal a 2-0 victory over Olympakios, putting the Gunners top of Group H in the Champions League.
Van Persie broke the stalemate in the 78th minute, and Arshavin made it 2-0 in the 86th at Emirates Stadium.
The first goal came when Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas passed the ball in the box to Eduardo da Silva, who it back for Van Persie to tap past goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis.
ADVERTISEMENT
Arshavin scored an easy tap-in after good lead-up work from second-half substitute Aaron Ramsey and Fabregas.
Arsenal leads the group with six points after also beating Standard Liege two weeks ago. Olympiakos has three points, two more than AZ Alkmaar and Standard Liege, which drew 1-1 on Tuesday.
The Gunners had numerous first-half chances to score. Arshavin came close twice, in the 13th when his shot was saved by a diving Nikopolidis after a pass from left back Gael Clichy. Nikopolidis dived again to stop a low shot from Arshavin six minutes later.
ADVERTISEMENT
Fabregas also had a couple of chances. He hit the crossbar in the 16th minute with the ball then deflecting off Nikopolidis into the path of Tomas Rosicky, whose shot was saved. Fabregas’ effort from close range 10 minutes later went straight to Nikopolidis.
Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone had little to do in the first half. Olympakios rarely ventured into Arsenal’s half, managing a few harmless crosses. In the 34th, a deep cross from Olympakios’ Dudu found Vassilis Torosidis, who headed straight at Mannone.
Olympiakos threatened early in the second half, nearly scoring from a corner in the 50th but Mannone stopped Olof Mellberg’s header.