Dinamo Zagreb piled further misery upon English sides in Europe as they stunned 10-man Arsenal 2-1 in Croatia to record their first Champions League group stage win in 16 attempts.
Making their 18th straight group phase appearance in the competition, the Gunners were hoping to fare better than both Manchester clubs, who lost their opening games, but instead suffered a chastening defeat of their own in their Group F curtain-raiser.
Arsene Wenger's men fell behind on 24 minutes when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put one through his own net and their troubles were compounded when Olivier Giroud was dismissed for a second yellow card just before half-time.
Junior Fernandes added a second for Dinamo just before the hour and although substitute Theo Walcott pulled one back the Croatian champions held on to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 42 matches.
With an eye on Saturday's Premier League trip to Chelsea and a League Cup tie at Tottenham the following week, Wenger made six changes to the side that beat Stoke 2-0 at the weekend.
Captain Mikel Arteta was handed a first start of the season in midfield with Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin rested while David Ospina deputised for Petr Cech in goal.
Giroud was also restored to the line-up but the Frenchman, cautioned earlier for dissent, was sent off five minutes before the interval after picking up a second booking for a clumsy tackle on Ivo Pinto.
AFP