Thierry Henry led Arsenal to a 5-1 romp at Inter Milan on Tuesday as Arsene Wenger's team revived its ailing Champions League hopes with a sensational victory at San Siro.
Facing elimination after its 3-0 loss at home to Inter and other poor results, the Gunners hit top form.
PHOTO: AFP
"We just kept on going. We wanted to show something as well because we didn't show the true face of Arsenal yet in the Champions League," Henry said. "Now we have to carry on because it's only three points we got today."
PHOTO: EPA
"We offered them too many opportunities in the closing minutes and they flooded us," Inter coach Alberto Zaccheroni said.
"We lost to a great team which was superior to us tonight. We have been competitive until 2-1. Then the 3-1 ended the match ... we were in a position of advantage before this game. We wasted the opportunity and now must play a decisive match against Kiev."
The result means that the Group B situation is wide open with Lokomotiv Moscow leading the Gunners and Inter by one point and Dynamo Kiev one further behind going into the final round of games in two weeks time.
A last minute strike by Costa Rican striker Winston Parks, who had been on the field for six minutes, gave Lokomotiv Moscow a 3-2 victory over Dynamo Kiev.
Tuesday's games also left matters wide open elsewhere with only Monaco guaranteeing that they join idle Real Madrid and Juventus in the last 16.
At one stage both Monaco and Deportivo de La Coruna both appeared to be headed for the last 16 until Jan Vennegoor scored an equalizer for PSV Eindhoven for a 1-1 tie at the Louis II stadium.
"I'm happy to have reached the knockout stages, which is an achievement in itself," said Monaco coach Didier Deschamps.
Deportivo cruised to a 3-0 victory over AEK Athens but the draw leaves the Spanish club tied on 10 points with Monaco and PSV three points behind going into the last rotation. Monaco, which has guaranteed a spot in the last 16 on head-to-head results, goes to AEK and PSV hosts Deportivo in the crunch match.
Four-time titlist Bayern Munich held on for a 0-0 tie at Glasgow Celtic and Anderlecht edged Lyon 1-0 to leave Group A tantalizingly poised going into the final rotation. Celtic, Anderlecht and Lyon have seven points each and Bayern is fourth with six. In the final round of games, Bayern hosts Anderlecht and Lyon welcomes Celtic.
Juventus has already qualified from Group D but its game at Galatasaray had been called off following last week's bomb attacks in Istanbul and a new date and venue are yet to be decided.
Although Real Sociedad gained a 2-2 tie at Greek champion Olympiakos and has eight points from five games, Galatasaray can still catch the Spaniards by winning its last two matches.
The action resumes today when it's Panathinaikos vs. Manchester United and Stuttgart vs. Rangers in Group E; Marseille vs. Real Madrid and Porto vs. Partizan Belgrade in Group F; Chelsea vs. Sparta Prague and Lazio vs. Besiktas in Group G; Ajax vs. AC Milan and Celta Vigo vs. Brugge in Group H.
Group A
Anderlecht 1, Lyon 0
The only goal came in the 70th minute when Ivica Mornar's cross into the penalty area took a deflection but fell perfect for Hannu Tihinen. The Finn squeezed his way in between two Lyon defenders to head past goalkeeper Nicolas Puydebois from close range.
Celtic 0, Bayern Munich 0
Oliver Kahn twice saves from Henrik Larsson in the first half while Bayern midfielder Michael Ballack fired in a dipping 20-yard (meter) shot which Celtic 'keeper Magnus Hedman tipped over the bar.
Group B
Inter Milan 1, Arsenal 5
Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu made a rare start for Arsenal against his former club which went ahead when Thierry Henry fired in a low right foot drive in the 25th minute.
Christian Vieri leveled eight minutes later with a deflected left foot shot into the top corner. Fredrik Ljungberg regained the lead for the Gunners in the third minute of the second half from Henry's pass, Henry scored a breakaway goal after Marco Materazzi had claimed a penalty at the other end and more Arsenal goals came from Brazilian midfielder Edu and French star Robert Pires.
Lokomotiv Moscow 3,
Dynamo Kiev 2
In a high quality game in Moscow, Maxim Buznikin gave Lokomotiv a 28th minute lead and, although Valentin Belkevich leveled nine minutes later, Sergei Ignashevich regained the advantage with disputed penalty in the final minute of the first half.
Maksim Shatskikh's near post flick in the 65th minute tied the game at 2-2 but Parks fired home the winner after Kiev's veteran goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy had dropped a cross. The result meant that the Russians had scored 22 goals in five home games.
Group C
Monaco 1, PSV Eindhoven 1
Spanish striker Fernando Morientes gave Monaco a 34th minute lead only for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to snatch a point for the Dutch champion five minutes from the end.
Monaco had captain Ludovic Giuly and midfielder Andreas Zikos sent off late in the second half, while Croatian referee Zeljko Siric also sent off PSV midfielder Theo Lucius shortly after the interval.
Deportivo 3, AEK Athens 0
Despite the absence of injured striker Diego Tristan and Brazilian anchorman Mauro Silva, Deportivo eased to victory. Berenguel Hector fired the home side ahead in the 21st minute before Juan Carlos Valeron added a second in the 51st and Alberto Luque made it 3-0 in the 71st.
"We did what we needed to do and won," Hector said. "After we scored our goals maybe the match got a bit cold."
Group D
Olympiakos 2, Real Sociedad 2
Igor Gabilondo gave the visitor a 31st minute lead before goals by Ieroklis Stoltidis (59th minute) and Neri Alberto Castillo (71st) but the Greek champion ahead. Gabriel Schurrer made it 2-2 in the 74th minute.
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