Arsenal's Robin van Persie, right, heads the ball past Borussia Dortmund's Roman Weidenfeller, left, to score the opening goal. Photo / AP
Robin van Persie guided Arsenal through to the next round of the Champions League on Wednesday, scoring his 20th and 21st goals of the season in a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.
Dortmund dominated the opening exchanges and had Arsenal under pressure even after injuries to Sven Bender and Mario Goetze midway through the first half robbed the German champions of arguably their two key players.
But Van Persie headed in Alex Song's 49th-minute cross at the far post to put the home side ahead and secure progress from Group F with one match remaining.
The Netherlands striker tapped in with four minutes left before Shinji Kagawa got a goal back for Dortmund deep in injury time.
Manuel Friedrich's injury-time header gave Bayer Leverkusen a 2-1 win over Chelsea on to pile further pressure on Blues manager Andre Villas-Boas.
Friedrich's header from a corner crashed in off the underside of the crossbar in the 91st minute.
Chelsea would have clinched a spot in the knockout round with a win and Didier Drogba had given the London club the lead in the 48th, when he turned his marker before dispatching a low shot to the far corner.
But Eren Derdiyok equalized in the 73rd, two minutes after coming on a substitute, when Sidney Sam waited to draw out Petr Cech before crossing for the Switzerland striker to head into an empty net.
Leverkusen tops Group E on nine points, with Chelsea and Valencia both on eight meeting in their last group
Elsewhere Barcelona clinched top spot in Group H by beating AC Milan 3-2 after twice losing the lead in a pulsating match in which Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored against his former Spanish club.
Milan midfielder Mark van Bommel gave Barcelona the lead in the 14th minute with an own goal and, despite Ibrahimovic's leveler, Lionel Messi's twice-taken penalty ensured the defending champions went into the break in front.
Kevin-Prince Boateng pounced in the 54th to get Milan back into the game, but Xavi Hernandez combined with Messi to score the winner shortly after the hour mark.
With both teams having already qualified for the knockout phase, Barcelona now can't be headed with one group game remaining.
Results:
Group E
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) 2, Chelsea (England) 1
Valencia (Spain) 7, Genk (Belgium) 0
Group F
Marseille (France) 0, Olympiakos (Greece) 1
Arsenal (England) 2, Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 1
Group G
Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia) 0, APOEL (Cyprus) 0
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 0, FC Porto (Portugal) 2
Group H
AC Milan (Italy) 2, Barcelona (Spain) 3
BATE Borisov (Belarus) 0, Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) 1
- AP
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