The 21-year-old Spaniard has pledged to take the club 'as far as it can go' after being handed the armband to succeed deposed William Gallas, stripped of the role following a public outburst criticising the squad's fighting spirit.

And while Tuesday night's display may not have been vintage Arsenal - victory eventually secured by a late strike from substitute Nicklas Bendtner from a quickly-taken long free-kick by Fabregas - the end result was all which mattered.

Gallas, meanwhile, will have restored some of the burned bridges with an assured display at the back which on another night could well have been capped with a goal.

Lisandro Lopez scored twice as Porto joined Arsenal in the Champions League knockout stages with a fine 2-1 win over Fenerbahce in Istanbul.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the centre of attention as Manchester United confirmed their place in the next stage of the Champions League with a 0-0 draw at Villarreal.

For the second successive match, the Portugal winger had to endure some stiff challenges. He was left with cuts on his ankle at the weekend in the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa.

He was again the victim of a high challenge for Joan Capdevila that saw him dismissed with seven minutes to go.

Ronaldo had come closest to making the breakthrough in the first half but his effort was tipped onto the bar by Diego Lopez.

He certainly showed no ill-effects from the ankle problem he suffered at Villa and Villarreal had trouble containing him. But the fourth successive match these teams played out ended in yet another a goalless draw.

Celtic sensationally crashed out of Europe after surrendering the lead to Aalborg in their Champions League Group E clash at the Energi Nord Arena.

The Parkhead side dominated from the first whistle and there was no surprise when midfielder Barry Robson put them ahead in the 52nd minute with a diving header.

But in the 72nd minute, Caca drew the side's level with a drive from 25 yards which deflected off skipper Stephen McManus before Gary Caldwell put through his own goal three minutes from time.

Real Madrid secured their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League and kept alive their outside hopes of winning Group H after Raul's early strike earned them a hard-fought 1-0 victory over BATE Borisov.

Lisandro Lopez scored twice as Porto also booked their place in the knockout stages with a fine 2-1 win over Fenerbahce in Istanbul.

Lyon secured their place in the knockout stages by beating Fiorentina 2-1 with a counter-attacking masterclass at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Bayern Munich also secured their place in the knockout stages with a comfortable 3-0 win over Steaua Bucuresti.

Zenit St Petersburg 0 Juventus 0
BATE Borisov 0 Real Madrid 1
Fenerbahce 1 FC Porto 2
AaB 2 Celtic 1
Bayern Munich 3 Steaua Bucuresti 0
Fiorentina 1 Lyon 2
Villarreal 0 Manchester United 0
Arsenal 1 Dynamo Kiev 0