Yaya Sanogo ended his 15-month wait to score for Arsenal on Wednesday to help the London club beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 and qualify for the Champions League knockout phase for the 15th successive season.
The 21-year-old striker, who has floundered since joining from his native France, netted only two minutes into his fifth start of the season but limped off late in the game.
"What he did on the first goal was class but unfortunately he got injured," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.
The second goal, though, came in the second half from the prolific Alexis Sanchez netting his 13th goal of his debut campaign with Arsenal, which halted a three-game winless run in all competitions.
"It was a solid performance, especially defensively," Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker said.
"We learned from disappointments in the past weeks ... but we came back in an even stronger way."
With a game to go in Group D, Dortmund and Arsenal have secured the two qualification places with only top place to play for next month.
An air of negativity has shrouded Arsenal after a trio of collapses, most recently on Saturday against Manchester United at home. But with fog descending on the Emirates Stadium, Sanogo quickly lifted the gloom.
Santi Cazorla received a slick back pass from Sanogo and returned the favor to set up the striker to nutmeg Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller with a low shot.
Sanogo was only starting up front alongside Sanchez because Danny Welbeck is out with a knee injury and Olivier Giroud was ineligible after not being included in Arsenal's original European squad for the group stage.
Arsenal also had to select their third-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, with Wojciech Szczesny joining David Ospina in the treatment room.
Martinez prevented Dortmund from equalizing before half time by denying Henrikh Mkhitaryan from close range.
In a game when Arsenal was looking sharp, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain struck the crossbar from distance on his 100th appearance. Sanchez ensured it would be a comfortable conclusion for the hosts by netting in the 57th. The Chile forward curled the ball into the net after being fed by Cazorla.
"His class - a mixture of talent and desire - that's what you expect from top level players," Wenger said.
The clean sheet was preserved by Martinez saving shots from Ilkay Gundogan and then Adrian Ramos in stoppage time.
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