LONDON, Dec 8, (Agencies): Arsenal booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League here Wednesday, beating Partizan Belgrade 3-1 in an ultimately comfortable victory at the Emirates. Substitute Theo Walcott and in-form Frenchman Samir Nasri scored the decisive goals for the Gunners after Partizan’s Brazilian-born striker Cleo had cancelled out Robin Van Persie’s first-half penalty. Defeats to Shakhtar Donetsk and Braga in their previous two matches however meant the English Premier League leaders had to settle for the runners-up spot in Group H. Shakhtar finished first after beating Braga in Ukraine. Arsenal had dominated from the outset, monopolising possession but struggling to find a way through Partizan’s densely populated midfield. Nasri always looked Arsenal’s most threatening attacking outlet, and the midfielder created the first half-chance when he found Marouane Chamakh with a cross that the Moroccan striker headed harmlessly over the bar.

Nasri was in the thick of it again on 19 minutes when he lost his marker superbly before threading a low cross through to Van Persie, who could only guide his shot wide of the near post. At the other end Arsenal remained largely unruffled although they were forced into a defensive reshuffle on 24 minutes when Emmanuel Eboue came on to replace Kieran Gibbs after the fullback turned an ankle. Arsenal broke the deadlock on the half hour mark via a dubious penalty, Marko Jovanovic harshly adjuged to have bundled over Van Persie by Italian referee Paolo Tagliavento. Television replays appeared to suggest little contact by the defender on the Dutch striker. Partizan’s players protested to no avail and Van Persie stepped up to blast his spot kick beyond Vladimir Stojkovic. Arsenal might have had a second near half-time when a defensive slip from Mladen Krstajic let in Van Persie but the Arsenal striker was unable to find the killer pass for Chamakh, allowing Partizan to snuff out the danger.

Despite cruising through the first half however, Arsenal were made to pay for a slack opening to the second period and Partizan got back on level terms when Cleo’s speculative shot took a big deflection off Sebastien Squillaci and looped up over Lukasz Fabianski. It looked like the match might finish in a draw until the introduction of substitute Walcott for Andrei Arshavin breathed new life into the Arsenal attack with 23 minutes to go. On 73 minutes Walcott fired Arsenal back into the lead, controlling a half-clearance superbly on his chest before angling in a volley past Stojkovic. Four minutes later Nasri made the game safe, rounding off slick interplay between Nicklas Bendtner and Alex Song to finish coolly.
The only sour note for Arsenal came five minutes from time when Bacary Sagna received a straight red card for a professional foul on Aleksandar Lazevski on the edge of the area.

Marseille 1, Chelsea 0
In Marseille, France, Chelsea travelled to Marseille here Wednesday seeking an upturn in their fortunes but it wasn’t to be as their French hosts came away with a deserved 1-0 win in this concluding ‘dead’ Champions League Group F encounter. Aside from seeing two decent penalty appeals turned down Chelsea will find it hard to quibble with a result that saw the Londoner’s hitherto perfect first round record blemished by defeat. Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti made three changes from the side held 1-1 by Everton at the weekend, with Paulo Ferreira, Josh McEachran and Ramires starting in place of John Mikel Obi on the bench and Ashley Cole and Nicolas Anelka rested.

Gabriel Heinze, Taye Taiwo and Fabrice Abriel returned for Marseille, undone 1-0 by south coast neighbours Nice on Sunday.
At a balmy Stade Velodrome the home fans gave a warm welcome to old boy Didier Drogba, who has been relishing this return to his former club.
While Chelsea, kitted out here in lime green, were already assured of top spot in Group F Ancelotti had nevertheless called for a spirited end to their Champions League group games after watching his side win only one of their last six Premier League outings.
Yet it was Marseille who started the livelier, with France international Mathieu Valbuena only denied by Petr Cech’s crossbar in the tenth minute. Seconds later his diving header off Benoit Cheyrou’s cross from the left went narrowly wide.

Down at the other end Florent Malouda after neatly beating the offside trap, was knocked to the floor by Souleymane Diawara.
Russian referee Vladislav Bezborodov pointed to the spot but then strangely changed his mind after discussion with his linesman, awarding Chelsea a corner instead which Marseille quickly cleared.
On the half hour Drogba saw his shot from the edge of the box fly over Steve Mandanda’s overhead.
Marseille then had the ball on the back of the net, only for Heinze’s header to be ajudged offside in a decision that was, in its turn, arguably harsh on the hosts.
In a third potentially game-changing decision, Bezborodov ignored Chelsea’s logical appeals for a second penalty as half-time beckoned when Diawara floored Salomon Kalou on the left of the area.
With Chelsea’s first half performance falling short of their coach’s pre-match demand for an improved showing the Londoners were under pressure to up their game as they emerged for the second half.

Bayern 3, Basel 0
In Munich, Germany, Franck Ribery struck twice to help Bayern Munich to a 3-0 win over Basel in Group E and dash the Swiss side’s hopes of advancing to the last 16 of the Champions League.
Ribery fired Bayern ahead in the 35th minute and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk added another two minutes later. The Frenchman, who was out injured for two months until mid-November, grabbed his second goal five minutes after the restart. Last season’s Champions League runners-up had already sealed top spot in their group with two games to spare and their fifth win in six games showed they are a force to be reckoned with in Europe despite their mediocre Bundesliga season so far.
Basel, who needed to win to have any hopes of going through, finish third in their group and will continue in the Europa League.

The Swiss set a frantic early pace, pressing deep in the German half.
It almost paid off after 10 minutes when Xherdan Shaqiri found himself in the box, turned well and released with keeper Thomas Kraft doing well to deny the gifted midfielder.
Basel kept the Bavarians on the backfoot and Marco Streller should have given them the lead when he raced clear in the box but failed to beat Kraft from five metres.
The Germans reacted immediately with Diego Contento battling to win possession on the sideline and cutting back for Ribery to slot home from 14 metres.
Before the Swiss had any time to recover Bayern struck again, with Mario Gomez heading on a corner kick and Ukrainian Tymoshchuk tapping in from two metres. Ribery sealed their win five minutes after the restart after being set up by Thomas Mueller just inside the box.
Bayern squandered half a dozen more chances to score in a one-sided second half with the Swiss desperately defending in numbers.

Ajax 2, Milan 0
In Milan, Ajax beat AC Milan 2-0 at the San Siro here on Wednesday to ensure they take their place in the Europa League come the turn of the year.
With Milan already guaranteed second place in Group G and Real Madrid assured of top spot, Ajax and Auxerre were left to battle for third place and the European consolation prize.
And goals from Demy De Zeuuw and Toby Alderweireld ensured the Dutch side - who were rocked by the resignation of coach Martin Jol on Monday - continue their continental adventure this season.
Ajax made a bright start against a Milan team who rested the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
Just two minutes in Luis Suarez forced Marco Amelia to tip the ball behind for a corner and the second choice stopper came to the rescue to deny the Uruguayan again on 11 minutes.
The Dutch side were clearly on top and Suarez slipped in Christian Eriksen but Daniele Bonera got across to make a sliding block.

Eriksen was proving Ajax’s primary outlet and twice he forced Amelia into saves.
Milan had only one chance of note in the first half but Ronaldinho’s header from Robinho’s cross lacked power or direction and Maarten Stekelenburg saved easily.
Ajax also had two shouts for a penalty in the first 50 minutes but referee Claus Bo Larsen was spot on both times in booking Suarez and then Miralem Sulejmani for simulation.
Ajax had an early chance after the break but Amelia parried Suarez’s close range effort while up the other end Thiago Silva was just off target with a header.
But the visitors deservedly took the lead on 58 minutes after Siem De Jong’s shot from the edge of the box was blocked but the rebound dropped to De Zeeuw to lash home.
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri clearly didn’t want to lose and hauled off midfielder Massimo Ambrosini for Ibrahimovic.
But on 67 minutes it was two as Alderweireld picked up a pass from Suarez and sent a rocket from 25 yards into the top corner, giving Amelia no chance.
Ibrahimovic did have an effect, though, forcing Stekelenburg to save with his foot at his near post.
Kevin-Prince Boateng had the ball in the net 10 minutes from time with a rasping drive but Ibrahimovic had already been penalised for a foul.
Amelia then dived full length to save Suarez’s left-foot after the Uruguayan’s mazy run.

Shakhtar 2, Braga 0
In Donetsk, Ukraine, Ukraine’s 2009 UEFA Cup champions Shakhtar Donetsk reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time here with a 2-0 victory over Portuguese side Sporting Braga.
A dour match was brought to life late in the game when Romanian international defender Razvan Rat opened the scoring with the hosts nailing their place in the last 16 and top spot in Group H shortly afterwards through Luiz Adriano.
Defeat ended the visitors hopes of progressing - though Arsenal’s win at home to Partizan Belgrade would have made even a Braga win in Ukraine fruitless.
Braga were already up against it as Shakhtar went into the match unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions since being hammered 5-1 by Arsenal and unbeaten in 52 successive home clashes since a defeat in October 22, 2008.
The tone of the match was set right from the whistle as Shakhtar defender Alexiy Zai clattered into Leandro Salino and the rest of the first-half was peppered with similar niggly fouls and little goalmouth action.
It was somewhat surprising that only Braga’s Miguel Garcia found his way into the referee’s notebook.
The crowd at least had some encouragement at the end of the first-half as first Dario Srna forced Braga ‘keeper Artur into saving his freekick and then Alan’s shot had home ‘keeper Andriy Pyatov earning his keep in stopping his shot.

Real 4, Auxerre 0
In Madrid, Real Madrid snuffed out Auxerre’s hopes of a Europa League place when Karim Benzema’s hat-trick and a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo lifted the La Liga giants to a 4-0 win in Champions League Group G.
The French club needed a point at the Bernabeu to have any hope of pipping Ajax Amsterdam to third place, with Real already through to the last 16 as group winners and Serie A side AC Milan assured of second.
Portuguese Ronaldo was one of only three regular first-teamers in the suspended Jose Mourinho’s starting 11 and it was his cross that set up Benzema to nod in the opening goal in the 12th minute at the Bernabeu.
Ronaldo lashed home Real’s second in the 49th after Marcelo’s fine through ball sent him clear and Benzema netted in the 72nd with a low shot before producing a clinical finish to complete his treble just before the end.

“I am very pleased to have scored three goals. I am going to work hard to play like I have done today all the time,” Benzema told Spanish television.
Nine-times champions Real are looking to end a poor run in Europe’s elite club competition during which they have failed to make the quarter-finals the past six seasons despite investing heavily in players and coaching staff.
By winning the group they should avoid another heavyweight club when the draw is made on Dec. 17.
Real goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek had a mixed night, making two excellent saves to deny Jean-Pascal Mignot and Dennis Oliech in the first half and being forced off after getting a bang on the head in a collision with Roy Contout.
The former Liverpool keeper, who rarely gets a chance to replace first-choice Iker Casillas, was given a standing ovation as he left the pitch and Auxerre hardly troubled his replacement Antonio Adan.
Their efforts were in any case in vain as Ajax made sure of their place in the Europa League with a 2-0 win over Milan at the San Siro.

Roma 1, Cluj 1
In Cluj, Romania, AS Roma secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 1-1 draw against Romania’s CFR Cluj in a drab Group E encounter.
The Serie A side needed only a point to finish second in the group behind Bayern Munich and did not waste much effort in a lacklustre performance at Cluj, converting only one of just three clear scoring chances.
Striker Marco Borriello beat the offside trap in the 21st minute, taking a neat through ball from veteran playmaker Francesco Totti into the penalty area and placing a low shot into the net.
Cluj striker Lacina Traore, who looked uninspired most of the game, equalised one minute before the end with a close-range header past goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont, a last minute substitute for Julio Sergio before the match.

Roma dominated the first 30 minutes but Cluj got back into the game at the end of the first half and Lobont had to make a brave save against a close-range volley by striker Roberto De Zerbi.
Left-winger Juan Culio then sent a powerful shot inches over the bar 15 minutes into the second half, while Totti and Borriello missed their shots from tight angles in the last half hour.
It was the first Champions League game for caretaker Cluj coach Alin Minteuan, who replaced Sorin Cartu after he smashed up the dugout during the 1-0 away defeat to Basel.
The match was low key, with Cluj already out of the competition and Roma confident at half time that a clear advantage for group leaders Bayern Munich at home against Basel would see them through without effort.