Duo strike late for Arsenal

Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin rescued Arsenal from a frustrating evening against Olympiacos as they claimed a 2-0 win and gave Arsene Wenger an early celebration to his 13th anniversary as manager.

It looked for so long that Wenger's men would be punished for failing to convert their chances - a problem that has led to five years without a trophy - but Van Persie's second strike in four days put them on course for a 100% start in Group H of the Champions League.

Before the Dutchman struck 12 minutes from full-time, 37-year-old goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis had saved everything the hosts had thrown at him. Arshavin added the second with a cheeky backheel.

Arsenal had opened their European campaign away to Standard Liege - where they trailed 2-0 inside five minutes before battling back to a morale-boosting victory.

The Gunners, though, showed no signs of any such repeat here as Olympiacos were immediately pushed onto the defensive.

The Greek champions, now managed by Brazil legend Zico, had Nikopolidis to thank for preventing Arsenal chalking up a big score in a one-sided contest.

However, they were eventually undone with 12 minutes to go when substitute Eduardo darted into the box to collect Cesc Fabregas' pass, before cutting the ball back to Van Persie, who swept it into the net.

Full-back Gael Clichy, who came through the Arsenal youth ranks under the watchful eye of Wenger, broke down the left and cut the ball across for Arshavin, whose sidefoot shot was gathered by Nikopolidis in a sign of things to come for the Greek keeper.

While there is still much work to do before this side can genuinely claim to live with those built around Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, Wenger's young Gunners continue to give the wise old manager reason to be positive for the future.