Last updated on .From the section European Football

Lucas Perez had only scored two goals for Arsenal before his hat-trick in Basel

Arsenal finished top of Champions League Group A thanks to a Lucas Perez hat-trick in Basel and Paris St-Germain's draw with Ludogorets Razgrad.

PSG would have sealed top spot with victory, with anything less allowing in the Gunners, who took control through two Perez tap-ins.

Perez drove in his third from the edge of the box and Alex Iwobi rolled in a fourth before Seydou Doumbia cut through for a Basel consolation.

A 2-2 draw in Paris left Arsenal top of a group for the first time since 2011-12.

Arsene Wenger's side failed to make it past the last 16 that year, and have fallen at the first knockout stage in each of the past six seasons.

Aside from breaking their run of second-placed group finishes, the Gunners have also gone through a group stage unbeaten for the first time since they reached the final in 2005-06.

Gunners' good fortune?

A 2-2 draw at home against PSG in November looked to have consigned Arsenal to second place and, in theory, a harder assignment in the last 16.

Their only hope of topping the group was help from Bulgarians Ludogorets, who twice led in Paris and, despite Angel di Maria's late equaliser, held on to seal a place in the Europa League.

As a result, Arsenal know they will avoid Barcelona and Monaco, who have knocked them out in the past two seasons respectively, as well as Atletico Madrid and Napoli in Monday's draw.

However, they will face one of:

Bayern Munich, their conquerors in 2013 and 2014

One of Borussia Dortmund or Real Madrid

Benfica

Bayer Leverkusen

One of Porto or FC Copenhagen

One of Juventus, Seville or Lyon

Perez proves a point

Lucas Perez's second goal came at the end of a 33-pass move. No goal in the Champions League this season has involved more passes.

Spaniard Perez has struggled to make an impression since a £17m move from Deportivo La Coruna in August, making just one Premier League start and only finding the net with a double against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup.

Here he was twice in the right place at the right time, an empty net at his mercy first after Kieran Gibbs rolled the ball across goal, then when a Gibbs shot was parried, both strikes coming at the end of flowing passing moves.

Perez completed his hat-trick soon after half-time, surging towards the Basel goal and angling a finish past a weak attempt at a save from home goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.

Arsenal were incisive and consistently dangerous on a freezing and misty night in Switzerland, with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil constantly linking - Sanchez's delightful pass finding Ozil, who fed Iwobi from the left for the fourth.

Champions League - who's going through? Group A: PSG and Arsenal Group B: Benfica and Napoli Group C: Barcelona and Manchester City Group D: Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich Group E: Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen Group F: Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid Group G: Leicester and one of Porto or FC Copenhagen Group H: Juventus and one of Sevilla or Lyon Ludogorets, Besiktas, Borussia Moenchengladbach and FC Rostov have confirmed their places in the Europa League

Gibbs grabs his chance

Gibbs is another Arsenal player who has been short of opportunities this season, making only one start in the Premier League.

The England left-back was brilliant in Basel, not only having a hand in Perez's first two goals, but also winning the ball and playing a through pass for the third.

As Gibbs often took an advanced position, Basel did find some joy down the Arsenal right, with Renato Steffen cutting in to force a save from David Ospina and Matias Delgado heading over from inside the six-yard box.

The visitors' defence, including Rob Holding, was occasionally ragged, and when Holding lost out to Seydou Doumbia, the Ivorian wonderfully turned Laurent Koscielny for a consolation that Basel deserved.

Man of the match - Kieran Gibbs

Lucas Perez will take the headlines, and it is arguably odd to overlook him, but Kieran Gibbs was outstanding, having a hand in all three of the Spaniard's goals. Perez would not have had a hat-trick were it not for the work of the left-back.

'You feel a bit less guilty'

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "I thought Ludugorets were a good side - they made a great result that helps us top the group, which was what we wanted.

"We did the job in a convincing way, we were mobile and overall had a committed performance.

"It is difficult to know but you feel a bit less guilty if you have a bad draw [after finishing] first rather than second - we have done our job and let's see what happens.

"I think Perez took advantage of the fact we created good chances - he is a goalscorer you know. He has shown tonight he has a good smell for the goal."

What's next?

Arsenal will be seeded for Monday's last-16 draw, but before then host Stoke City in the Premier League on Saturdat. Basel go out of Europe, without even a place in the Europa League, but can console themselves with a 12-point lead in the Swiss top flight.

Line-ups

Match Stats

Live Text Line-ups FC Basel 1 Vaclik

5 Lang

17 Suchy

23 Balanta Booked at 66mins

3 Traoré

6 Serey Dié Substituted for Zuffi at 74' minutes

34 Xhaka

24 Elyounoussi Substituted for Callà at 59' minutes

10 Delgado Substituted for Doumbia at 54' minutes

11 Steffen

21 Janko Substitutes 4 Gaber

7 Zuffi

8 Bjarnason

18 Vailati

26 Høegh

39 Callà

88 Doumbia Arsenal 13 Ospina

5 Gabriel

16 Holding

6 Koscielny

3 Gibbs Booked at 36mins

8 Ramsey Substituted for Giroud at 70' minutes

29 Xhaka

9 Pérez

11 Özil Substituted for Walcott at 74' minutes

17 Iwobi

7 Sánchez Substituted for Elneny at 70' minutes Substitutes 12 Giroud

14 Walcott

15 Oxlade-Chamberlain

18 Monreal

20 Mustafi

33 Cech

35 Elneny Referee : Jorge Sousa Attendance : 36,000 Match Stats Live Text Post update Match ends, FC Basel 1, Arsenal 4. Full Time Second Half ends, FC Basel 1, Arsenal 4. Post update Corner, FC Basel. Conceded by Laurent Koscielny. Post update Foul by Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal). Post update Seydou Doumbia (FC Basel) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Post update Foul by Rob Holding (Arsenal). Post update Marc Janko (FC Basel) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Post update Delay over. They are ready to continue. Post update Delay in match Renato Steffen (FC Basel) because of an injury. Post update Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Marek Suchy. Post update Attempt blocked. Theo Walcott (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Rob Holding. Post update Corner, FC Basel. Conceded by Rob Holding. Post update Attempt blocked. Marc Janko (FC Basel) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Seydou Doumbia with a headed pass. Post update Attempt saved. Michael Lang (FC Basel) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Luca Zuffi with a cross. Post update Corner, FC Basel. Conceded by Rob Holding. Post update Rob Holding (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Post update Foul by Renato Steffen (FC Basel). goal Goal! Goal! FC Basel 1, Arsenal 4. Seydou Doumbia (FC Basel) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Marc Janko. Post update Attempt saved. Theo Walcott (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Kieran Gibbs. Post update Attempt saved. Renato Steffen (FC Basel) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Seydou Doumbia. Page 1 of 5 rewind previous Navigate to the next page next Navigate to the last page forward