the Champions League, with both clubs winning
on Wednesday night.
Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick as Arsenal
ensured their place in the knockout stages with
an emphatic 3-0 victory at Greek champions
Olympiakos.
The France international ensured the Gunners'
tough start to the group stage -- which saw them
lose their first two games -- was put behind them.
He gave them the lead at the break with a header
that squirmed past goalkeeper Roberto before
doubling the lead soon after the interval following
superb control and a sharp pass from Joel
Campbell.
And Giroud then coolly wrapped up the victory
from the penalty spot after a handball to steer
Arsene Wenger's side through.
Chelsea beat Porto 2-0 to secure their passage
into the round of 16 as Group G winners and
boost manager Jose Mourinho.
The Blues took the lead in the 12th minute -- but
needed a big stroke of luck to do so. Diego Costa
got through on goal, and when Iker Casillas saved
his shot the ball rebounded off Ivan Marcano and
Porto could not prevent it from crossing the line.
Willian blazed wide early in the second half but
got Chelsea's second goal in the 53rd minute
when Eden Hazard played him in to shoot past
Casillas from the edge of the area.
Gary Neville's first game in charge at Valencia
began promisingly but ended in frustration as
they lost 2-0 at home to Lyon.
The former Manchester United defender saw his
side fall behind after 37 minutes when Maxwell
Cornet took advantage as Valencia backtracked,
curling the ball high into the corner.
And Lyon, with only one Champions League point
to their name this season, doubled their
advantage inside the last 15 minutes when
Alexandre Lacazette rounded off a sharp counter-
attack to condemn Neville to defeat.
Gent became the first Belgian club to appear in
the knockout stages of the Champions League for
15 years after beating Group H winners Zenit St
Petersburg 2-1 in a dramatic encounter.
It took Gent 18 minutes to break through as
Moses Simon crossed for Laurent Depoitre, who
produced a superb finish into the corner.
Zenit were back on terms after the break when
midfielder Sven Kums miscued a clearance and
Artem Dzyuba took advantage to score his sixth
Champions League goal of the season. But Simon
again turned provider with a little over 10
minutes remaining and Danijel Milicevic thumped
his effort home .
Bayer Leverkusen fell just short of sealing their
qualification from the group stages as they drew
1-1 with Barcelona at the BayArena.
The visitors went in front after 20 minutes when
Ivan Rakitic played a perfect through ball to
Lionel Messi, who rounded Bernd Leno and slid his
finish home.
But the lead lasted for only three minutes, with
the Bundesliga side finding an almost instant
answer when Javier Hernandez scored his 11th
goal in 12 games after neat build-up play gave
Admir Mehmedi the chance to cross from the left.
Leveruksen had chances in the second half,
Karim Bellarabi denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen
when clean through, but were unable to find the
second goal that would have put them through
and have to settle for a place in the Europa
League.
Bayern Munich cruised to a 2-0 victory at Dinamo
Zagreb, with lethal striker Robert Lewandowski
again the man who made the difference.
After a goalless first half, the Poland international
struck twice in as many minutes, heading home a
fine Thomas Muller cross and then lifting the ball
over goalkeeper Eduardo from Sebastian Rode's
through pass.
The result means Bayern top Group F by six
points while Dinamo finish third.
Dynamo Kiev reached the knockout phase for the
first time since the 1999-2000 season after
getting the win they needed, 1-0 at home to
Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The Ukrainian side finished second behind
Chelsea in Group D thanks to Denys Garmash,
who pounced on the rebound when Serhiy
Rybalka's deflected free-kick was stopped by
Predrag Rajkovic.
Roma secured their place in the knockout stages
after a 0-0 Group E draw with BATE Borisov -- the
night's only game without a goal.
Home side Roma created the bulk of the
opportunities but were almost made to pay for
their failure to take them when goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczesny was forced into a late save.
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