[Source: Reuters]

Arsenal blasted their way into the last 16 of the Champions League on a freezing night at The Emirates this morning, crushing RC Lens 6-0 with goals from six different players and ensuring that they qualify top of Group B.

The home side, back in European football’s biggest club competition for the first time in seven years, needed one point to secure themselves a place in the knockout stages of the competition. Instead, they swept Lens off the park to secure all three.

“Today we were really attacking and we played to dominate the game – and we achieved that… Today we were really effective,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told reporters.

Arsenal have 12 points with four wins from their five games, while Lens, who sit third with five points, can no longer reach the last 16.

Arsenal took the lead in the 13th minute with a scrappy goal from Kai Havertz, their late-goal hero at Brentford on Saturday. As Lens failed to clear their lines the ball fell to Gabriel Jesus on the edge of the box and the Brazilian laid it off to Havertz who prodded it in off Lens keeper Brice Samba from close range.

Jesus doubled the lead eight minutes later, collecting a sideways pass on the edge of the box from Bukayo Saka with his left foot, deftly switching back to his right to send the defenders the wrong way, and burying his shot in the corner.

Saka drove the knife in with a third in the 23rd minute, bundling in a weakly parried ball with his body after a shot by Gabriel Martinelli, who twisted that knife four minutes later with a curled shot that left Lens goalkeeper Samba lunging at thin air.