Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
Arsenal led a list of nine clubs who grabbed a second win in as many games in the Europa League group phase as France striker Olivier Giroud scored his 100th goal for the club in a 4-2 win at BATE Borisov on Thursday.
Fellow Serie A sides Atalanta and Lazio also won while Portugal's Vitoria Guimaraes began their match against Salzburg with not a single European player in the team.
While Lyon rallied to hold Leipzig 2-2 after a Memphis Depay strike, it was the English clubs who made a mark on the night. Liverpool and Chelsea moved into the last 16 with contrasting wins and now all four English clubs, including Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, are in the Champions League knockouts this season.
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who made a mockery of his two-month exile from the starting lineup with a superb individual effort, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured an easy win that banished memories of their earlier group stage struggles.
Paul Pogba repaid some of his world record transfer fee with two goals as Manchester United rediscovered their early-season shine, cruising to a 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce to go top of their group on Thursday. Pogba scored a penalty and rifled United's third into the top corner. Anthony Martial also netted from the spot and Jesse Lingard fired home in the second half before former Old Trafford favourite Robin van Persie pulled one back for Fenerbahce. Inter Milan and AS Roma, though, had more testing evenings. Coach Frank de Boer breathed a sigh of relief when Inter survived an onslaught from Southampton to end a three-match losing streak with a 1-0 victory while Roma conceded twice late on to draw 3-3 at home to Austria Vienna.
A round of Wednesday night's Champions League group stage matches.
How Real Madrid's players reacted to Zinedine Zidane's stepping down as Real Madrid coach.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Everyone at Manchester City is flying high after the 1-0 derby win over Manchester United at the weekend but they could all come crashing back to earth after Wednesday's meeting with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
Red Star, who won the European Cup in 1991 and reached the latter stages the following season, finished second in Group H behind Arsenal who crushed BATE Borisov 6-0.
United's Ibrahimovic, Roma's Dzeko find the net thrice to give clubs first leg advantage
A summary of Wednesday night's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester United's woes deepened as stunning goals by Moussa Sow and Jeremain Lens gave Fenerbahce a 2-1 Europa League win on Thursday that left Jose Mourinho's side facing a battle to reach the knockout stages.
The Champions League group stages took on a less predictable look after Thursday's draw, helped by UEFA's decision to tweak the seeding system.
Wayne Rooney's Everton homecoming ended in a 1-0 win over Slovak side Ruzomberok with the former Manchester United striker having a quiet return to Goodison Park in the Europa League, third qualifying round, first-leg on Thursday.
Having absorbed the body blow of losing striker Radamel Falcao in the close season, Atletico Madrid have emerged as genuine contenders to break the title stranglehold of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Real Madrid's Javier Hernandez struck twice as they came from behind to beat Celta Vigo 4-2 away and keep the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight on Friday. Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.
Fiorentina tore apart Italian rivals AS Roma to reach the Europa League quarter-finals with a 3-0 win that left their opponents' season in tatters and under-fire coach Rudi Garcia tottering on the brink of the sack.
RB Leipzig scored twice in the opening 13 minutes but had to survive a late comeback from Manchester United to cling on to a 3-2 win on Tuesday that sent them into the Champions League knockout stage and eliminated the English side.
Chelsea struck the woodwork twice but could not find a breakthrough in an entertaining 0-0 Champions League draw at Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday that left everything to play for in Group G.
Three time European champions Inter Milan were stunned 2-0 at home by Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Manchester United were floored by a late goal from Feyenoord as the Europa League group stage got underway on Thursday.
A summary of Tuesday's Group stage matches in the UEFA Champions League.
A round-up of Wednesday's night's UEFA Chmpions League matches.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
The three teams with 100 percent records in this season's Champions League can secure their places in the knockout stage this week with two games to spare.
Diego Costa continued his rich vein of form as he helped leaders Chelsea to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa while Louis van Gaal enjoyed only his second Premier League win as Manchester United manager following a 2-1 victory against West Ham.
Jose Mourinho suffered a nightmare homecoming as Porto, the club he led to the Champions League title in 2004, inflicted a 2-1 defeat on his woefully out-of-sorts Chelsea side in Group G on Tuesday.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid led a Spanish Armada into the Champions League last 16 with home wins on Wednesday and in-form Aaron Ramsey steadied Arsenal's boat with a battling win against rocky Borussia Dortmund.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 750th goal of his remarkable career in a 3-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday
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In an exciting weekend for football lovers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued their extraordinary double act, both scoring hat-tricks as Real Madrid and Barcelona maintained their battle for supremacy at the top of La Liga. Chelsea's unbeaten start to the Premier League season ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday but no-one can get the better of Bayern Munich, who marched on in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. We present a summary of events in photos.
Summary of World Cup qualifiers played across the world on Thursday
Chelsea reached the Champions League knock-out stage on Tuesday despite a 1-0 defeat by Basel in Group E after a late Mohamed Salah goal shocked the 2012 title winners, with Jose Mourinho saying they deserved to lose. Barcelona, without Lionel Messi but already into the last 16, went two goals down in Amsterdam but looked a different side in the second half after Ajax's Joel Veltman was sent off.
Images from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
A round-up of Euro 2016 warm-up matches played on Sunday
Toni Kroos struck with a fierce long-range shot a minute from time to give Germany a 1-0 victory over Spain in a friendly between two injury-depleted European heavyweights in Vigo on Tuesday.
Check out the 10 most expensive transfers in British soccer history.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
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