Arsenal secured their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League this evening by seeing off Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
It took less than two minutes for the Gunners to get off the mark with Yaya Sanogo bagging his first goal for the club, before Alexis Sanchez doubled his side's advantage with a curling effort from long range shortly before the hour.
Dortmund, who still remain top of Group D despite this defeat, failed to create any real openings as they went in search of a route back into the game, with the hosts seeing out the contest fairly comfortably in the end.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look back at how the 90 minutes of action unfolded in North London.
Match statistics
ARSENAL
Shots: 5
On target: 3
Possession: 46%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 14
BORUSSIA DORTMUND
Shots: 7
On target: 4
Possession: 54%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 14
Was the result fair?
It was clear right from the off that Arsenal desperately wanted the victory this evening in order to get their faltering campaign back on track. They got off to a dream start, too, when Sanogo, brought back into the starting lineup for the first time since August to replace the injured Danny Welbeck, opened up his goalscoring account for the club with just 73 seconds played.
While the Gunners were good value for their half-time lead, Dortmund were certainly not out of the game, and manager Jurgen Klopp clearly had a few words to say at the interval because his team came out far more fired up following the restart. The visitors created a few chances, forcing replacement keeper Emiliano Martinez into making a string of decent saves, although there is no denying that it was Arsene Wenger's charges who came out on top across the 90 minutes.
Arsenal's performance
It says a lot about Arsenal's form over the past month or so that, even when two goals to the good with 30 minutes left to play and Die Borussen clearly not at their best, you still felt that it was not quite game over at the Emirates Stadium. Credit to the hosts' defensive unite, though, because they stood firm throughout when called into action, and were duly rewarded with a rare clean sheet.
Domestically speaking the Gunners find themselves well off the pace, yet it was a case of job done tonight, seeing off Group D leaders Dortmund to not only secure their place in the next round, but also keep alive their hopes of topping the standings. While it was very much a team effort at the Emirates, Alexis once more stood out to bag goal number 10 in the same number of outings for club and country, fully justifying that £35m transfer fee paid out for him in the summer.
Borussia Dortmund's performance
It would be harsh to judge the German club on this showing alone, with four wins from four in the Champions League prior to this one enough to safely secure their progression from the group stage. That may go some way to explaining why they lacked any real urgency in the first half in particular, although you would still back the Black and Yellows to top the group upon the conclusion of the final set of fixtures at the start of next month.
A lot has been made of Arsenal's form this season, or lack of it as it works out, but Borussia have taken it to a whole new level this season. They may have been off the pace tonight, yet they still boast one of the best records of any side on the continent in Europe's showpiece competition, with just their league form letting them down badly at the moment. Klopp has a few weeks to turn around his side's faltering fortunes before the winter break, or else their season could end in a disastrous manner.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Alexis Sanchez: With each passing game Alexis, who made the move to North London from Barcelona in the summer, justifies his price tag more and more. His goal wrapped up the victory shortly before the hour, but it was his all-round game which really caught the eye. If Arsenal can keep him fit and firing, then they will climb back up the Premier League table in no time.
Biggest gaffe
There is surely nothing more frustrating to a football manager than seeing your side concede inside the opening stages of a game. All week you prepare for the 90 minutes of action, drilling various moves into your players before setting out a gameplan for the group to abide by. So it would have been highly disappointing, then, for Klopp to see his charges fall apart inside the box after just 73 seconds of this one, finding themselves behind to Sanogo's strike. It did not get too much better from that point on in fairness.
Referee performance
Viktor Kassai was forced into brandishing his yellow card a few times in the first half, although the game was hardly fiery. On just one occasion of note did the Hungarian official have to make a big decision; that coming when Lukasz Piszczek went down under the challenge of Kieran Gibbs inside the penalty area. The Arsenal full-back first got a touch of the ball, however, meaning that Kassai made the right call to wave away appeals.
What next?
Arsenal: Next up for the Gunners is a return to Premier League action on the weekend, where they will be looking to get their domestic campaign back on track away at West Bromwich Albion.
Borussia Dortmund: Much like their opponents this evening, Dortmund are in desperate need of victories in their domestic league, with a trip to face Eintracht Frankfurt coming up on Sunday.
Daniel Lewis
