Champions League review:Chelsea cruised to a 2-0 Champions League Group F win over Marseille on Tuesday, with John Terry and Nicolas Anelka netting for the hosts. Arsenal were comfortably negotiated a tricky away tie against Partizan Belgrade, running out 3-1 winners against the Serbian side with goal from Andrei Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh and Squillaci.
The Blues got off to a flying start when Terry cheekily turned home Gael Kakuta's low corner from the right at the near post on seven minutes.
And the result was never in doubt when Carlo Ancelotti's Blues were awarded a penalty for handball on 28 minutes, with Anelka coolly converting the spot-kick to make it two wins from two group games for the Londoners.
Chelsea captain John Terry was relieved by the win which came after a league defeat to Manchester City and a Carling Cup loss against Newcastle.
"Coming here, we'd had two losses which is very unusual for us," he told Sky Sports 2. "So we're pleased to pick up three points, keep a clean sheet and extend that lead at the top of the group.
"In the second half we had a few chances to make it three or four. We didn't start the brightest in the second half but we stayed solid and kept a clean sheet.
"With Sunday in mind we maybe took our foot off the gas a little bit, saving a bit of energy for the weekend.
"We'd have liked to have got a third and killed the game off but they had a lot of possession."
The other game in Group F ended in a 3-0 win for Spartak Moscow over Zilina of Slovakia. Brazilian striker Ari put the home team ahead with a looping header in the 34th minute, then tapped in the second goal from close range just after the hour.
Brazilian substitute Ibson added a third one minute from time, giving the Russians six points from the first two games after they beat French champions Olympique Marseille 1-0 two weeks ago.
Republic of Ireland winger Aiden McGeady also featured prominently and looked to be settling in well since his move from Glasgow to Moscow.
The winger, who scored his first goal for his new club at the weekend, was a constant menace for the visitor’s defence in a performance that bodes well ahead of Ireland's visit to Zilina for their Euro 2012 qualifier against Slovakia on October 12th.
Arsenalwere bidding to bounce back from their shock weekend defeat to West Brom but the north Londoners looked rattled in the early stages in Serbia and could easily have fallen behind.
However, Arshavin fired the Gunners ahead from 12 yards in the 15th minute and saw an effort cleared off the line not long after as his side began to dominate.
Cleo drew Partizan level from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute after Denilson handballed in the box but Arsenal regained control in the second half and deservedly went ahead on 71 when Chamakh nodded in a rebound after his initial header was saved.
Squillaci headed in a third from Sami Nasri's corner eight minutes from time and Lukasz Fabianski ensured there would be no late drama with a fine save from another Cleo spotkick, this time given for a foul by Kieron Gibbs.
Arsenal and Shakhtar Donetsklook set to dominate Group H after both eased to the six-point mark tonight.
Shakhtar swept Bragaaside 3-0, with Luiz Adriano scoring twice in the second half before Douglas Costa, whose passes had set up the opening two goals, added the finishing touch with a stoppage-time penalty.
Angel Di Maria hit a late winner for Real Madrid at Auxerreas the Spanish giants jumped to the top of Group G.
Madrid last won the Champions League in 2002 when Zinedine Zidane’s famous volley secured victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden Park, Glasgow.
They have invested heavily in a mission to reassert themselves in Europe and in the Primera Division, and their summer signing from Benfica came to their rescue in France, firing in well after fellow recent recruit Mesut Ozil found him with a cross to make the breakthrough after 81 minutes and clinch a 1-0 victory.
AC Milan,who beat Auxerre in their opening match, were held 1-1 in Holland by Ajax. Mounir El Hamdaoui put Ajax ahead after 23 minutes after smart work from Luis Suarez, but former Ajax hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic found a leveller for Milan 14 minutes later, after an assist from another one-time favourite of the home crowd, Clarence Seedorf.
Romarecovered from their opening defeat to Bayern Munich in Group E by beating CFR Cluj2-1.
The goals did not come until after the midway point of the second half, with defender Philippe Mexes firing in a crisp shot for the opener after 69 minutes and Marco Borriello striking a superb volleyed second two minutes later. Cluj replied seven minutes later when Ionut Rada headed in, but they could not find an equaliser.
Bayerncame from behind to win 2-1 at Basle, who led from the 17th minute thanks to Alexander Frei's elegant curling strike. Bayern levelled with a penalty from Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 56th minute, after Thomas Muller was impeded by Benjamin Huggel, and Schweinsteiger struck again with a minute remaining to pinch the points.