Wednesday 7 December 2016 12:58, UK
A convincing win over Basel, coupled with Paris Saint-Germain's draw at home to Ludogorets, means Arsenal have won their Champions League Group A.
A hat-trick from Lucas Perez and Alex Iwobi finish secured victory in Switzerland and Arsenal can now look to Monday's round-of-16 draw knowing they have done all they can to boost their knockout-phase chances.
Here, we take a look at the key talking points from Arsenal's 4-1 win at Basel...
Arsenal finally top their group
For the first time since 2011, Arsenal have won their Champions League group. Whether it will lead to them bucking their unhappy trend of losing in the last 16 in each of the past six seasons remains to be seen, but the feat should be a welcome fillip for Arsene Wenger's men.
After all, this is the first time they have gone unbeaten in the group phase in 11 years, while they did so by battling to a draw in Paris and hammering a Basel team which had only lost two of their previous 11 Champions League games with English teams along the way.
Bayern Munich, Benfica or Bayer Leverkusen could be waiting in the next round as confirmed second-place finishers in their respective pools, but Arsenal have guaranteed the second leg of their last-16 knockout tie will be at the Emirates Stadium. Now all they can do is tune in to Monday's draw and keep their fingers crossed.
Lucas Perez the hat-trick hero
Lucas Perez has found first-team opportunities at Arsenal limited since his arrival from Deportivo at the end of the summer transfer window - but he seized his chance to impress in Switzerland.
Handed a rare starting spot, the Spaniard hit a hat-trick in just 47 minutes to put Arsenal in position to capitalise on Paris Saint-Germain's surprise slip-up at home to Ludogorets.
He started and finished his first. After recovering the ball for the visitors on the edge of his own penalty area, Perez bolted down the other end of the pitch to tuck in Kieran Gibbs' pass across the Basel six-yard box.
His second came courtesy of his poaching instinct, latching onto Gibbs' parried shot to cap a fine team move which had involved 33 passes ahead of the defender's shot at goal, before he clinically fired in a third after more good work from Alexis Sanchez.
Perez has only made one Premier League start so far this season, with his game time largely limited to EFL Cup runouts. However, he showed Wenger in Basel he is primed and ready to make an impact when called upon.
Sanchez in superb form
Alexis Sanchez is Arsenal's key man right now and he pulled the strings for the visitors in another virtuoso performance on Tuesday. With the Gunners assured of victory, their supporters will have been relieved to see Wenger withdraw him unharmed on 70 minutes, fit to fight another day.
Sanchez has been directly involved in six of Arsenal's last eight Premier League goals, with five strikes and an assist to his name against Bournemouth and West Ham. He added another assist to his season's tally (now seven) in Basel and played a key role in the three other goals, too.
Dropping deep from his centre forward role, as he has regularly this season, the Chilean chipped a defence-splitting pass for Gibbs to tee-up Perez for his first, laid-off for Mesut Ozil to play in the defender for his shot which led to Perez's second, and sent the German on his way for a simple square to Alex Iwobi to round off the scoring after assisting Perez's third.
Sanchez's combination play with Ozil was excellent and he would have capped a fine performance with a goal, too, had his swerving free-kick not cannoned back off the bar. Whoever Arsenal draw in the next round, they'll be looking to Sanchez to make the difference.
Ospina steps up again
While the ultimate scoreline was comprehensive, there were moments in the first half when the hosts threatened - but they came up against a solid David Ospina.
He made four saves in total but the key one was from Renato Steffen five minutes before the break. With the score at 2-0, a goal from Basel could have switched the momentum but Ospina got down well to keep out the first shot and was sharp to snaffle the loose ball ahead of Marc Janko.
Petr Cech remains Wenger's first choice in the Premier League, but Ospina is proving to be a more than capable alternative in Europe.
