Arsenal in Champions League group stage

By Patrick Johnston

LONDON (Reuters) - Arsenal, buoyed by the return from injury of Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas, cruised into the Champions League group stage with a 4-0 win over Twente Enschede at the Emirates stadium on Wednesday.

The London side, who were Champions League runners-up in 2006 and led 2-0 after the first leg in the Netherlands, never looked in danger of being knocked out by former England manager Steve McClaren's team.

Midfielder Samir Nasri opened the scoring in the 27th minute when he neatly turned inside the area and fired a left foot shot, aided by a slight deflection off Twente defender Douglas, past Nicolay Mihaylov in the visitors goal.

Twente offered little attacking threat as Arsenal, runners up in 2006, continued to press, squandering several good scoring chances, with Denilson, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott all guilty.

However captain William Gallas, who scored in the first leg, doubled the advantage after 52 minutes, tapping home a rebound after Mihaylov could only parry Nicklas Bendtner's shot.

England winger Walcott made it three after 66 minutes when he sprinted clear of the visitors defence and curled a right-foot shot past Mihaylov.

Bendtner completed the scoring in injury time poking home after a neat back heel by Denilson.

The draw for the group stage of the Champions League takes place on Thursday in Monaco, with Twente entering the UEFA Cup and finding out their first round opponents on Friday.

(Editing by Clare Lovell)