Arsenal through as Inter crash out
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Robert Pires (left) and Thierry Henry celebrate Arsenal's opening goal at Highbury.
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| QUALIFIERS |
Group winners: Lyon, Arsenal, Monaco, Juventus, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan.
Runners-up: Bayern Munich, Lokomotiv Moscow, Deportivo Coruna, Real Sociedad, Stuttgart, Porto, Sparta Prague, Celta Vigo.
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LONDON, England -- Arsenal completed the remarkable turnaround in their Champions League fortunes as a 2-0 home win over ten-man Lokomotiv Moscow saw them qualify from Group B in top spot.
The Premier League side were set on course for a third successive win by a Robert Pires strike after just 12 minutes. Lokomotiv had Jacob Lekgetho sent off just before half-time, with Fredrik Ljungberg sealing victory in the 67th.
Inter Milan go out after being held 1-1 by Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine.
Diogo Rincon's 86th minute equalizer dealt the Serie A giants a crushing blow in the Ukraine after they looked headed for the last 16 off the back of a Daniele Adani goal just after half-time.
"There is great disappointment at the result to go out like this but we produced a great performance, playing at a high pace and conceding little to the opposition," Inter Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni told Canale 5 television.
"It was one of those days when we created a lot but weren't able to take the chances.
With Inter and Dynamo looking for a win to go through, the match, played on a freezing Kiev night, saw plenty of chances for both sides.
The visitors created more opportunities in an entertaining first half but Dynamo keeper Olexander Shovkovsky was equal to the task by making several fine stops.
Zaccheroni introduced Nigerian Obafemi Martins as his third striker early in the second half to inject greater firepower.
Even before he scored, Adani looked to be the hero for the Italians as he made a great defensive intervention 15 minutes into the second half, clearing the ball off the line after a close-range shot by Jerko Leko.
At the other end, Shovkovsky made a succession of great saves. He denied Christian Vieri from close range before saving with his legs from Adani following a point-blank shot.
The Italians were looking for a deserved victory after Adani finally put one beyond Shovkovsky, but Rincon brought a capacity 82,500 crowd to their feet as he equalised in the 86th minute to produce a nailbiting finish.
Arsenal comeback
The final round of results completed a remarkable reversal of fortunes after Inter had beaten Arsenal 3-0 at Highbury in the first round of matches and looked set to qualify with ease after reaching the semi-finals last season.
"We had a very bad start. The first game was a disastrous result and it was very difficult after three games with just one point," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger."Maybe the late goal against Kiev (a 1-0 victory) was the turning point. Then at Inter it was a game where everything went for us.
"We've learned that every game is completely different and any game can turn one way or the other very quickly. We lost 3-0 here to Inter and won 5-1 over there so it shows how quickly the game can change at this level.
"Let's just enjoy tonight and go into the last 16 and see what kind of draw we get."
Lokomotiv needed just a tie to guarantee a place in the last 16 but fell behind in the 12th minute.
There didn't seem much on when Thierry Henry collected the ball wide on the right wing. But he prodded a ball inside to Pires who took it at speed with his first touch and ran through a gap before powering a right foot shot past 'keeper Sergei Ovchinnikov.
It was almost 2-0 in the 28th minute when Ljungberg floated a through ball onto the head of Dennis Bergkamp. The Dutch star flicked it on to Henry who turned inside a defender before curling a 20-yard (meter) shot just wide of the far post.
The Russian champion had done nothing to scare Arsenal 'keeper Jens Lehmann in the first half and spent most of the time trying to get the ball from the home side.
After Vadim Evseev had been cautioned for a foul, Lokomotiv was down to 10 men a minute before half time when Lekgetho was sent off for his second yellow card, clattering into Ljungberg having also been called for an early foul.
Lokomotiv sent on two new players for the second half including Costa Rican forward Winston Parks who scored the winner in a 3-2 beating of Dynamo Kiev in the previous round of games.
But Arsenal rightback Kolo Toure produced a powerful, angled drive which the 'keeper pushed over the top before Lokomotiv at last went close to scoring in the 55th minute.
Parks took advantage of a slip by Ashley Cole on the right flank and broke clear only to shoot too close to Lehmann who was able to smother his angled, left foot effort.
The German goalkeeper had an ambitious 40-yard free kick from Dmitry Khokhlov to handle before the Gunners went further ahead midway through the second half.
Patrick Vieira started the move just inside the Lokomotiv half and Henry flicked the ball on with a pass over his shoulder to the onrunning Ljungberg who got clear to prod it over the 'keeper.
