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LONDON (AP) — Arsenal received a Champions League lifeline courtesy of Alexis Sanchez's double and assistance from Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
With the quality at their disposal, the Gunners should not have made life so difficult for themselves in Group F. But a spot in the round of 16 for the 16th consecutive season remains in Arsenal's hands when the London club heads to Olympiakos next month.
The Gunners eased to a 3-0 victory over Dynamo Zagreb on Tuesday with the type of commanding display they required but lacked in September when the tone for the campaign was set by a damaging defeat in Croatia in the group opener. Those are the only points Zagreb has collected in five games.
Despite losing three of its five group-stage games, Arsene Wegner's side can still advance next month by winning at Olympiakos 2-0 or by a one-goal margin of at least 3-2 due to the head-to-head formula used by UEFA to separate teams.
Olympiakos, which was thrashed 4-0 by leader Bayern, remains second but is only three points ahead of an Arsenal side it beat in London in September.
Although Arsenal was depleted by injuries, a repeat of September's loss to Zagreb never seemed on the cards at Emirates Stadium.
"It was a good night because we did the job and played at a high pace — and Bayern did the job, too," Wenger said.
"Now it's down to how well we do against Olympiakos."
It was a swift recovery from Saturday's 2-1 loss at West Bromwich Albion in the English Premier League where Arsenal was fourth.
Responding to Bayern's early goals, Mesut Ozil sent Arsenal in front after half an hour with a diving header from Alexis's cross.
"(Ozil) had an outstanding first half," Wenger said. "He's got the taste now for scoring. I've never seen him in the box so many times as in the last five or six games."
Provider turned scorer four minutes later when Alexis tapped in the net after Nacho Monreal squared the ball to the Chile forward.
"It's not easy to play against them," Zagreb coach Zoran Mamic said through a translator. "Then when put they increased the pace it was difficult for us."
The second came from Alexis with 20 minutes to go, meeting Joel Campbell's defense-splitting pass and rounding goalkeeper Eduardo to ensure a comfortable conclusion for the hosts.
"Now we're going to play for our lives," Bellerin said of the game at Olympiakos.
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