Chelsea and Arsenal thrashed newcomers on Wednesday as the two London clubs took a first small step towards the 2011 Wembley final in the European Champions League.
Cesc Fabregas was on target twice and set two more as Arsenal clobbered Sporting Braga of Portugal 6-0. Chelsea triumphed 4-1 at Slovakia’s Zilina, with Nicolas Anelka getting two goals and an assist.
Real Madrid defeated Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 from Gonzalo Higuain’s brace while new hiring Zlatan Ibrahimovic was also a two-goal hero for AC Milan in their 2-0 win over French side Auxerre. The 2010 runners-up Bayern Munich also won 2-0, over Roma from World Cup heroes Thomas Mueller and Miroslav Klose.
Arsenal took nine minutes to go on top at the Emirates from Cesc Fabregas’ penalty after Marouane Chamakh was brought down by Braga goalkeeper Felipe.
The Spanish World Cup winner Fabregas set up Andrey Arshavin for the second on the half hour mark before Chamakh found the net three minutes later for 3-0 to complete a beautiful one-two with Jack Wilshere.
One-way traffic continued after the break with Arshavin returning the favour and crossing accurately for Fabregas to head the Gunners’ fourth. Arshavin and Fabregas then set up substitute Carlos Vela for the remaining goals in the 66th and 85th, respectively.
Captain Dario Srna scored on a curling free kick as Shakhtar Donetsk beat Partizan Belgrade in the other group game. The Premier League champions Chelsea needed less than half an hour for their first three goals in Zilina, the first Slovakian club in the elite event.
Michael Essien fired a low shot for the opener in Group F off Anelka before the French forward doubled the lead in the 24th and poked home the third in the 28th.
Daniel Sturridge got the fourth in the 48th before Tomas Oravec got the consolation goal in the 54th after Petr Cech, who had earlier fumbled a free kick, missed a corner kick.
Spartak Moscow won the other game 1-0 at Olympique Marseille from a deflected shot by Dmitry Kombarov with seven minutes left.
Real, Ajax and Milan combine for 20 European titles in the big name Group F, which saw two home wins.
Higuain was denied by the bar early on but then somehow got his body on the ball to deflect a corner kick into the net in the 31st.
The Argentine poked home the second in the 73rd after good work from new German hiring Mesut Oezil against harmless Ajax.
Milan almost fell behind when Auxerre’s Sourmaila Coulibaly headed against the bar but got off to a good start thanks to Ibrahimovic, who came from Barcelona in summer. The Swede flicked home from short-range in the 66th in made it 2-0 later with a low shot, with another former Barca player, Ronaldinho, involved in both goals.
In Group E, Munich left it even later than Milan after Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio had first frustrated Toni Kroos, Mueller and Klose. The World Cup top-scorer Mueller finally broke the deadlock with a curling shot in the 78th and Klose clinched victory from short range five minutes later.
Cluj led 2-0 against Basel after 13 minutes from Tomat Rada and Lacina Traore and held on to win although Valentin Stocker pulled one back at the stroke of half-time.
