Scorers:
Arsenal: Abou Diaby 8, Nicklas Bendtner 42

Steaua Bucharest: Dorel Zaharia 68

Halftime: 2-0; Attendance: 59,786

Arsenal were forced to settle for second place in Champions League Group H despite finishing with a 2-1 win against Steaua Bucharest on Wednesday.

Arsene Wenger sent out an under-strength side at the Emirates Stadium but they were still too good for the Romanians. First half goals from Abou Diaby and Nicklas Bendtner put the Gunners in control before Dorel Zaharia replied after the break.

But the Premier League leaders, who had already qualified for the knockout stages, missed out on the prized top spot as Sevilla beat Slavia Prague 3-0.

Arsenal now face the prospect of a tough tie against one of the group winners in the last 16.

At least Wenger could take comfort from a lively display from his stand-ins, who got Arsenal back on track after their surprise Premier League defeat at Middlesbrough.

It was the perfect preparation for Sunday's crucial showdown with title rivals Chelsea.

Another significant bonus for Wenger was Robin van Persie's return after two months out with a knee injury. The Dutch striker had been in superb form this season and picked up where he left off before being substituted after 65 minutes.

Wenger was delighted with van Persie's display.

"He looked sharp. His eye was there, his pass was there. He needs to regain the confidence to go into challenges. But on the footballing side it looked as though he had never been out," he said.

"We had a good first half and, although we dropped in the second, it is good to win after Middlesbrough.

"We finish with 13 points which is good but not good enough to win the group. That promises us an interesting match in the next round."

Steaua coach Marius Lacatus added: "The first half was very poor. We didn't create any problems for Arsenal and made too many mistakes.

"We were not afraid but we might have had too much respect for them."

With Chelsea looming at the weekend, Wenger rested Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Manuel Almunia, Gael Clichy and Tomas Rosicky.

Almunia's absence meant Jens Lehmann's long exile was over as Wenger recalled the Germany goalkeeper for the first time since August.

Van Persie took only three minutes to underline why he is so influential for the Gunners. His perfectly-weighted pass to Theo Walcott cut the Steaua defence open but the young England striker dragged his shot wide.

Walcott has given only glimpses of his potential since joining Arsenal but there was no stopping him here. He caused havoc again with a surging run into the box before shooting over.

Inevitably it was Walcott who provided the impetus as Arsenal took the lead in the eighth minute.

The teenager spread a pass wide to Bacary Sagna and his cross was met by Diaby, who stroked a shot high into the far corner.

Inspired by his second goal of the season, Diaby tried his luck moments later with a shot that deflected twice before Robinson Zapata pushed it away.

Wenger was watching from the stands as he served a suspension following his sending off at Sevilla last month, but Arsenal clearly weren't missing his presence on the touchline.

Another lightning burst from Walcott ended with a low shot that skimmed past the far post.

Steaua arrived in London with nothing to play for after taking one point from their first five matches and it showed.

They backed off again as Van Persie slipped Bendtner through in the 42nd minute. The Dutch showed tremendous poise as he took a touch before slotting his shot under Zapata.

Van Persie went close to marking his return with a goal when his free-kick early in the second half flashed wide.

Zapata was the only Steaua player who excelled. He raced off his line to block Bendtner's shot outside the area and then recovered quickly to tackle van Persie before he could shoot.

After van Persie came off, Steaua scored with virtually their first attack in the 69th minute.

Florin Lovin swung in a deep cross and Zaharia got in front of Armand Traore to loop a header over Lehmann.

As news that Sevilla were ahead in Prague filtered through it became clear Arsenal's efforts would be in vain anyway.

They rapidly lost interest and Ovidiu Petre nearly gave Steaua a draw with a long-range effort in the final minutes.

Arsenal: 1-Jens Lehmann; 3-Bacary Sagna (27-Emmanuel Eboue 71), 10-William Gallas, 6-Philippe Senderos, 30-Armand Traore; 32-Theo Walcott, 17-Alexandre Song, 15-Denilson, 2-Abou Diaby (8-Lassana Diarra 71); 26-Nicklas Bendtner, 11-Robin van Persie (9-Eduardo da Silva 65).

Steaua Bucharest: 1-Robinson Zapata; 13-Ifeanyi Emeghara, 3-Dorin Goian, 5-Ionut Rada, 15-Mihai Nesu; 25-Adrian Neaga (30-Dorel Zaharia 64), 8-Ovidiu Petre, 20-Florin Lovin, 14-Vasilica Cristocea (84-Romeo Surdu 57); 10-Nicolae Dica; 9-Valentin Badea (4-Pawel Golanski 81).

Referee: Yuri Baskakov (Russia)