Arsenal assistant coach Steve Bould felt the Gunners overcame a nervy first half to secure a "fantastic result" after downing Olympiacos 3-1 in the Champions League last night.

Arsenal rode their luck on occasion before taking a 42nd-minute lead through Gervinho, only to be pegged back minutes later when Kostas Mitroglou glanced home a header.

The hosts needed just 11 minutes of the second half to re-take the lead, though, when German ace Lukas Podolski netted, and a fine late finish from Aaron Ramsey sealed a second win in Group B.

Bould, who again sat on the bench in place of Arsene Wenger as the Frenchman continued to serve a European ban, said of the victory: "It was tough, they made it tough for us.

"We started well enough but then looked a little bit nervous.Overall it was fantastic result."

With Schalke being held by Montpellier at home last night, Arsenal are now two points clear at the top of the group, although Bould is not getting carried away.

He said: "It's early days, there's an awful lot of work still to do."

The Gunners drew first blood three minutes before half-time.

Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski worked space down the left, and the ball was played back across the edge of the penalty area.

Mikel Arteta won a 50/50 with Pablo Contreras, which saw possession break to Gervinho, who sidestepped his marker before beating the wrong-footed Balazs Megyeri with a low shot.

However, the lead did not last to the interval.

Arsenal were caught cold at the back as Italian Leandro Greco whipped over a superb cross from the left touchline, which was guided into the net by a deft header from Mitroglou, who got between the two centre-halves.

There was more urgency about the Gunners after the break. Cazorla's fired wide after good work from Gervinho, before home pressure was rewarded in the 56th minute.

Gervinho picked out Podolski, who turned to drill the ball through the keeper's legs.

Ramsey then wrapped up the victory when he latched on to Giroud's flicked header from Vito Mannone's long goal-kick to skip into the penalty area and calmly chip the keeper.

Captain Thomas Vermaelen admitted his side were not up to speed in the first half before improving after the break.The centre-back said: "In the first half we were sloppy sometimes with the passing, we lost a lot of balls."