Champions League: Chelsea 3-0 Schalke | Dortmund 0-1 Arsenal

Chelsea 3-0 Schalke 04

Chelsea moved three points clear at the top of Group E, beating Schalke 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, edging them closer to a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League. There are two matches left to play in this stage of the competition. Schalke are second in the group, and a win or a draw against Basel in their next game would be enough to see Chelsea advance. The German side could have gone ahead twice with early chances, but Schalke keeper Timo Hildebrand gifted Chelsea their first goal when his misjudged clearance was pounced upon by Samuel Eto'o to make it 1-0 on the half-hour mark. Eto'o put them two up in the 54th minute when he was put through by a smart pass by Willian, which he slotted into the bottom corner. Schalke couldn't find a response and substitute Demba Ba sealed the victory for the Londoners with his first Champions League goal seven minutes from time.

Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal shocked the home fans in the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, beating their team 1-0 in a hotly contested match to keep Arsenal top in Group F. Napoli's win against Marseille in the other group match means Dortmund slip into third place. Wojciech Szczesny kept Arsenal in the game with two fine saves that were the highlights in a rather guarded first-half. Marco Reus thought he'd put Dortmund ahead early in the second-half, only to have his goal disallowed for being offside. It just goes to show how shrewd play was with Arsenal's goal coming from their first chance on target. Aaron Ramsey reacted quickest to a dropping ball in the area, beating Neven Subotic marginally to head the ball past Roman Weidenfeller. He almost grabbed a second minutes later, but his shot this time was parried away by the German keeper. The goal injected some urgency into the game and the last half-hour was a lively affair, but in the end one goal was enough to make Arsenal's quest to qualify for the knockout stages a bit easier.