Dhaka, March 18 -- Arsenal's Eberechi Eze opened his Champions League account with a stunning goal as his team outclassed Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at home to reach the quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate victory on Tuesday.

Leverkusen somehow weathered a barrage of Arsenal pressure in the opening half an hour with keeper Janis Blaswich outstanding until Eze's thunderbolt from outside the area in the 37th minute put them in control of an awkward last-16 tie.

The tireless Declan Rice made it 2-0 just past the hour mark with a precise low finish and Leverkusen, who ended Arsenal's 100 percent record in this season's competition when they had the better of a 1-1 draw in last week's first leg, never really threatened a comeback....