Petr Cech praises Arsenal team-mates after famous win over Bayern Munich

Goalkeeper Petr Cech believes Arsenal's collective team effort rather than his crucial saves was key to beating Bayern Munich - but knows more hard work lies ahead if the Gunners are to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Arsene Wenger's men battled to a hard-earned 2-0 victory over the runaway Bundesliga leaders at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, kickstarting their European campaign following successive defeats.

The final result, however, could have been very different but for the intervention of Cech, the veteran former Chelsea stopper making his first Champions League appearance for the Gunners this season, replacing the injured David Ospina, who was at fault for one of the goals in the 3-2 home defeat by Olympiacos last month.

Cech, though, preferred to focus on the efforts of all the players and not just his key contribution in producing a fine early reaction save to deny Thiago Alcantara and then deflecting over a close-range shot form Robert Lewandowski shortly before substitute Olivier Giroud headed Arsenal in front after 77 minutes. Mesut Ozil netted a second in stoppage time.

"Everybody was doing their bit and I was trying to do my bit," said the 33-year-old, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012/13.

"I am pleased with my performance because whenever they managed to get through our defensive block I was there to help my team-mates, but I am pleased with the team's performance as I thought we had been up for the game.

"Obviously if Thiago had scored early in the game then they would have had control of the game, so it was a very important save at the start. Then I am obviously glad I made the save against Lewandowski as in that moment we could have been 1-0 down, instead in a few minutes we were 1-0 up and that basically decided the game."