Arsenal beats Olympiakos to complete great escape in Champions League

It had never happened in this millennium. Every single year since the fall of 1999, Arsenal had survived the group stage of the Champions League. But after losing three of their first four games in this year's edition, things were looking dire.

The Gunners had to beat Dinamo Zagreb at home and on Wednesday they had to travel to Greece and defeat Olympiakos by two goals – or by one goal so long as they scored at least three. Both sides had bested Arsenal in the first slate of games.

Dinamo was defeated 3-0. And on Wednesday, Arsenal registered the same score against Olympiakos, in spite of yet another injury rash robbing them of five midfielders, star forward Alexis Sanchez and striker Danny Welbeck. And so the Londoners completed something of a miracle turnaround.

Even the hardiest of Arsenal's beleaguered fans are probably lying if they tell you they felt confident about all this transpiring the way it did ahead of time. Arsenal's many skeptics had already written them off. Their mostly-cynical supporters probably had, too.

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And in the early part of the game, Arsene Wenger's side didn't show much that suggested it would succeed in its daunting mission. As Wenger point out ahead of the game, Olympiakos were an "underrated" side.

As expected, the Greeks sat in and lurked on the counterattack. It took Arsenal until the 25th minute to produce a real chance when Joel Campbell cut back for Mathieu Flamini, whose finish was deflected off the bar.

But just four minutes later, the oft-criticized striker Olivier Giroud would get the first of his three goals. Mesut Ozil dispatched Aaron Ramsey with a splitting pass up the left. Giroud headed the cross behind goalkeeper Roberto, who should probably have done better.

Arsenal hadn't lost a Champions League game after leading at halftime in three years, per the BBC. But the last team to come from behind against the Gunners was, in fact, Olympiakos.

Nevertheless, just after the break, Giroud got that liberating second goal. He won a header in midfield, from where the ball got to Campbell. The Costa Rican held it up and then played Giroud through to allow the Frenchman to finish coolly.

In the 66th minute, Arsenal got a penalty when Omar Elabdellaoui blocked a ball in the box with his arm. Giroud sent Roberto the wrong way and converted to round out his hat trick.

For a 16th season in a row, Arsenal will be in the Champions League knockout rounds, although it has probably never been such a close-run thing as this year.

Still, after winning just one of five games in all competitions in the month of November – against Dinamo – the Gunners have won both of their December contests and have put their season back on the tracks. They remain alive in Europe and have reclaimed second place in the Premier League.

Perhaps the annual injury spree won't upend Arsenal this year, after all. Some of their issues remain, but the Gunners' laudable streak of European competence and consistency remains intact.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.