LONDON (Reuters) -Arsenal outclassed Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 to all but secure a spot in the Champions League knockout phase with Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard all on target on Wednesday.
Rice struck inside the opening two minutes after a clever lay-off by Havertz and the German put Arsenal in full control with a 66th-minute header.
Captain Odegaard put the icing on the cake of a clinical Arsenal display with a third in stoppage time — his first goal in 14 games in all competitions.
Victory lifted Arsenal to third in the standings on 16 points and with the top eight qualifying automatically for the last 16 only an extraordinary sequence of results in next week’s final round of group matches could deny Mikel Arteta’s side.
Arsenal travel to Girona for their final game where a draw will be enough to avoid any possibility of being dragged into a two-legged playoff in February.
Defeat for Fabio Cannavaro’s Dinamo side left them in the elimination places ahead of their last match at home to AC Milan which they will have to win to stand any chance of a playoff.
Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge suffered a blow when they were held 2-2 by Aston Villa on Saturday.
But they have been extremely reliable in the Champions League and a fifth win in seven games was always on the cards once Rice drilled a low shot past Ivan Nevistic after Havertz had cushioned a pass to him from a Gabriel Martinelli cross.
It was Rice’s first goal in the Champions League.
Arsenal were occasionally threatened on the counter-attack as Dinamo showed plenty of pace going forward.
Arteta’s side began the second half in lacklustre fashion but once Martinelli crossed for Havertz to plant a header past Nevistic the victory was in the bag.
Rice should have added his second when he headed wastefully wide but Odegaard made no mistake late on.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
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