Arsenal 3-1 Hamburg SV
Arsenal got their Champions League campaign back on course with a 3-1 victory over Hamburg at the Emirates Stadium to top Group G.The Gunners, though, only came to life late in the second half after trailing to a magnificent effort from Rafael van der Vaart.
Victory was nevertheless deserved given the industry of Arsene Wenger's men, whose dominance was finally rewarded by strikes from Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Eboue and a first for on-loan Brazilian Julio Baptista.
Avoiding defeat next month against Porto, who won at CSKA Moscow, will send last season's runners-up into the knock-out stage.
However, they must face that task without suspended Thierry Henry after the Arsenal captain picked up a third caution of the competition.
The evening had not looked so promising when Arsenal once again found themselves chasing the game at their new, 60,000-seater home.
With plenty of men back, there looked little real danger as the German team exchanged passes on the edge of the area after only three minutes.
However, suddenly the lose ball fell to Van der Vaart when it should have already been cleared.
The Dutchman - who had netted against England last week - needed no second invitation, side-stepping Kolo Toure before dispatching a stunning 20-yard strike up over Jens Lehmann and into the far corner.
Wenger and his bench looked on in disbelief as the Gunners' home jinx had struck again.
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