Arsenal’s proud record intact after tense Besiktas test

Arsenal 1 Besiktas 0 (agg 1-0)

Once again, Arsenal can look forward to their customary position in the Champions League draw. It has become an annual part of their calendar and Alexis Sanchez's first goal for the club, on a tense, difficult but ultimately triumphant night, maintains a record Arsene Wenger is entitled to cherish. This will be the 17th successive season they have competed in European football's premier competition and the relief was considerable bearing in mind the way the occasion could easily have become an ordeal.

They had to withstand some fraught moments after Mathieu Debuchy had picked up his second yellow card to leave them a man short for the last quarter of an hour of normal time and another four minutes of added time. Fortunately for them, Besiktas did not have the wit to take advantage of their late onslaught and the most important refereeing decision actually came earlier in the match, at 0-0, when Arsenal were spared a penalty that could have changed the entire complexion of the night.

Arsenal’s inability to score an away goal at the Ataturk eight days earlier meant there were always going to be times when Wenger could be seen anxiously prowling the touchline. Yet Besiktas, third in last season’s Super Lig, looked like unremarkable opponents for most of the night and Wenger could probably be forgiven for thinking his team should have made lighter work of it.

Jack Wilshere really ought to have hit the target early on after Besiktas had contrived to lose the ball in their own half and a player of Santi Cazorla's refinement might also have done better when the visiting goalkeeper, Tolga Zengin, came to the edge of his penalty area and accidentally presented him with the ball with his goal exposed. Cazorla, 30 yards out, could not get his chip on target and those two chances, both inside the opening quarter of an hour, offered an opportunity to soothe the crowd's nerves.

Instead, Arsenal were lucky to be spared by the Portuguese referee, Pedro Proenca, after the incident five minutes before half-time that brought the Besiktas coach Slaven Bilic to the point of outrage.

Wilshere had risked trouble by sliding in behind Ramon Motta as the Besiktas left-back suddenly found himself haring into the penalty area after Olcay Sahan's cutback. Motta went down but Proenca ruled there had been no contact and Sánchez's goal arrived a few minutes later to compound Bilic's grievances. Debuchy started the move on the right and when his cross was headed back out Wilshere played a quick touch-and-go with Mesut Özil just outside the penalty area. Wilshere's acceleration took him away from the two nearest opponents. The midfielder could not control Özil's return pass but Sanchez was the next man over and the ball fell invitingly for him to roll a right-foot shot into the far corner.

Wenger’s side had played the better football until that point but, equally, Zengin had not been particularly overworked and Arsenal were missing one of their key assets without Olivier Giroud’s ability to bring midfield runners into play.

Sanchez, taking over centre-forward duties, is an entirely different kind of player and there were times when Arsenal would get the ball in promising positions but not have anyone to hold up possession. Sanchez was playing just in front of Cazorla, with Özil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain providing the width, and that quartet frequently stretched the Besiktas defence. Yet Sanchez’s goal came at a good time for Arsenal, just at the point when it was starting to feel like their opponents had found some self-belief.

Arsenal suddenly started looked ragged in those moments, with Özil angering the crowd and the team losing their structure. They should still have scored again, however, before Debuchy’s red card. Cazorla could not get a clean shot away after Sanchez had led a three-on-two attack and, shortly afterwards, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shot came back off Zengin from a position when he really should have scored.

Debuchy, already booked for clattering into Sahan, was unfortunate perhaps in that he took the ball before the second yellow was shown for his challenge on Mustafa Pektemek. Wenger immediately brought on Calum Chambers for Özil and the substitute was booked, farcically, for coming on too early. Those were nerve-shredding moments. Yet Arsenal’s 10 men held out for a mix of joy and relief.

Guardian Service