London, September 15:

Dennis Bergkamp scored an 89th-minute goal to give Arsenal a win over FC Thun on Wednesday in the Champions League, while Benfica and Ajax also benefited from late strikes. Bergkamp scored his first Champions League goal in three years to help Gunners to a 2-1 win.

Wesley Sneijder scored a last-minute equaliser to earn four-time champion Ajax a 1-1 draw at Sparta Prague, and Italian striker Fabrizio Miccoli netted an injury-time winner for Benfica in a 1-0 victory over Lille.

Also, Vincenzo Iaquinta scored a hat-trick as Udinese marked its debut with a 3-0 victory over Panathinaikos, and Serie A champion Juventus won 2-1 at FC Brugge. Other powerhouse teams started with victories. German champion Bayern Munich won 1-0 at Rapid Vienna and FC Barcelona topped Werder Bremen 2-0. Manchester United was held 0-0 at Villarreal and played last 26 minutes without Wayne Rooney, who was ejected.

At Highbury, Nelson Ferreira levelled for Thun two minutes after Gilberto Silva scored for Arsenal, which saw Robin van Persie sent off for a dangerously high kick in first-half injury time. A 1-1 draw looked likely as the game went into the final minute but Bergkamp dug the ball out of a scramble and scored the winner. With Sparta Prague and Ajax drawing, Bergkamp’s goal put the Gunners at the top of Group B after the first round of games.

Pavel Nedved and David Tvezeguet scored within nine minutes of each other as Juventus won 2-1 at FC Brugge. Peru striker Paolo Guerrero scored Bayern’s winner in Vienna to leave the champions of Italy and Germany atop Group A.