Arsenal beats Kiev, edges into the last 16

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London: Arsenal edged into the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday with a game to spare after an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev at the Emirates.

Substitute Nicklas Bendtner struck three minutes from time to keep Arsenal top of Group G and eliminate Kiev who ended with 10 men after midfielder Olexandr Aliyev lost his cool in the final minutes and pushed referee Alain Hamer.

Kiev failed to capitalise on chances to take advantage of an injury-hit Arsenal side lacking fluency and confidence.

Until Bendtner's 87th-minute goal, Kiev had enjoyed the best chances of a disappointing game with Ismael Bangoura denied by the woodwork in the first half and Artem Milevskiy shooting straight at Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia late on.

Victory lifted Arsenal to 11 points with one game to play in Porto on Dec. 10 when a draw will guarantee them top spot.

Arsenal were missing nine first-team players through injury but William Gallas returned to central defence after being dropped and stripped of the captaincy at the weekend.

The France defender almost gifted Kiev a goal after 38 minutes when he dithered on the ball, allowing Bangoura to nip in and curl a shot against the near post.

Gallas had a goal disallowed on the stroke of halftime when he prodded past Kiev keeper Stanislav Bogush but was marginally offside.

Early in the second half he was in the thick of things again, this time preventing a certain goal for team mate Robin van Persie when he inadvertently blocked the Dutchman's shot in the six-yard area.

Milevskiy should have done better when he fired a shot straight at Almunia with 10 minutes remaining and Kiev were made to pay dearly.