Champions League Group H: Arsenal 3 Partizan 1

Theo Walcott came off the bench to send nervous Arsenal into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Partizan Belgrade.

The result clinched second place in Group H, which means Arsenal will now face one of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Schalke or Bayern Munich in the knockout stages.

But it was not a comfortable night for Arsene Wenger’s men.

They looked a shadow of the side that has swept to the top of the English Premier League, appearing disjointed and strangely subdued even after Robin van Persie put them ahead with a first-half penalty in a match they had to win to be certain of qualification.

It was van Persie’s first goal in an Arsenal shirt since May, having finally recovered from ankle injury.

But the penalty was somewhat fortunate, with Marko Jovanovic punished for the slightest of touches on the Dutchman after 30 minutes.

But Partizan recovered well and equalised in the 52nd minute when Cleo took advantage of hesitant defending to fire home from 18 yards, stunning the home crowd.

Even then Arsenal, who lost Kieran Gibbs to injury in the first half, were not sparked into life until winger Walcott came off the bench to make an immediate impact.

He put the Gunners back in front when he cleverly steered a right-foot shot home after Bacary Sagna’s cross was not properly cleared in the 73rd minute.

Nasri then made the game safe, firing home his 12th goal of the season four minutes later, but Arsenal still looked wobbly.

They had Sagna sent off in the 85th minute for cynically tugging back Alexander Lazevski just outside the area, and needed goalkeeper Lucasz Fabianski to save well from the ensuing free-kick.