Arsenal, Chelsea march on

The Premier League champion Chelsea was rarely troubled in a 2-0 victory over Olympique Marseille from JohnTerry and Nicolas Anelka's first-half goals.

Arsenal prevailed 3-1 at 10-man Partizan Belgrade from late goals by Marouane Chamakh and Sebastien Squillac as each club failed to convert a penalty.

Victory was sweet for the London rivals who had both lost in the Premier League on the weekend. They were joined on a maximum six points by Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Spartak Moscow and Shakhtar Donetsk. Last season's runner-up Munich rallied to win 2-1 at Swiss side Basel and the record champion Real Madrid prevailed 1-0 at AJ Auxerre.

Spartak defeated MSK Zilina 3-0 and Shakhtar won 3-0 at Sporting Braga.

Former winners Ajax Amsterdam and AC Milan drew 1-1 and Roma edged CFR Cluj 2-1. Chelsea and Spartak Moscow head Group ‘F' into their first meeting in Russia next month.

The Blues got a quick lead in the seventh minute when Terry's tight-angle flick found its way across the line between a defender and the near right post. Anelka got his third goal in two games in the 28th from the penalty spot after Stephane Mbia handled Michael Essien's cross.

Earlier, Spartak's goals in rainy Moscow against Zilina came from Brazilian players. Ari headed home in the 31st minute and made it 2-0 half an hour later from short range. Unmarked substitute Ibson flicked home the final goal in the 89th.

Schweinsteiger strikes

In Group ‘E', Munich's domestic woes appeared to continue when Alexander Frei curled home Basel's 18th-minute lead. But Schweinsteiger was on target with a 55th-minute penalty and then tapped in Holger Badstuber's freekick for an 89th-minute winner. Philippe Mexes and Marco Borriello struck within two minutes in the the 69th and 71st minute as Roma beat Cluj in the other game, with both sides on three points behind Munich (six). Basel is last with zero points.

Auxerre is yet to win in the French league and also failed to create a Group ‘G' upset against Real, which was lucky when Pepe headed against his own crossbar before it snatched a late winner. Substitutes Mesut Ozil and Di Maria were involved in the winner in the 82nd minute, when Di Maria fired home a low shot.

In Belgrade, Arshavin gave Arsenal a 15th-minute 1-0 lead in a classy one-two move with Jack Wilshere. But Partizan was back in the match in the 32nd minute from Cleo's penalty after Denilson's handball.

The results:

Group ‘E': Basel 1 (Frei 18) lost to Bayern Munich 2 (Schweinsteiger 56-pen, 89), Roma 2 (Mexes 69, Borriello 71) bt CFR Cluj 1 (Rada 78).

Group ‘F': Chelsea 2 (Terry 7, Anelka 28-pen) bt Marseille 0, Spartak Moscow 3 (Ari 34, 61, Ibson 89) bt MSK Zilina 0.

Group ‘G': Ajax 1 (El Hamdaoui 23) drew with AC Milan 1 (Ibrahimovic 37), Auxerre 0 lost to Real Madrid 1 (Di Maria 81).

Group ‘H': Braga 0 lost to Shakhtar Donetsk 3 (Luiz Adriano 56, 72, Costa 90+2-pen), Partizan Belgrade 1 (Cleo 33-pen) lost to Arsenal 3 (Arshavin 15, Chamakh 71, Squillaci 82) . — Agencies