Arsenal love to make us sweat it out, don’t they? In being a die-hard supporter of theirs for longer than Arsene Wenger’s reign, you’d think I would be used to this growing trend of ours. Be that as it may, the Gunners progressed to their 17th consecutive Champions League group stage appearance under Le Prof; impressive it may be, but it certainly could prove an up-hill task.
It would take Alexis Sanchez’s first goal for the club to see us through on a night, in yet another highly contested, no holds barred affair, this time at the Emirates. With Olivier Giroud missing through injury (which has been confirmed by Arsene Wenger to be till late December at least), Mikel Arteta also missing through injury, Theo Walcott still crocked and Aaron Ramsey missing through suspension, it was never going to be an easy one on the night.
As I stated in a previous piece two weeks ago, I would remain very much a finger-nail biter till the end of the second leg, and I am happy to report that not only am I bereft of nail, but I am happy we got the result under the circumstances we had to deal with. Truthfully however, it all could have gone very, very wrong for us.
Besiktas already gave us a tough go of it in Istanbul, and although gifted manager Slaven Bilic was relegated to the stands after his antics last week, the Turkish side was always going to follow his tactics board instructions and play much the same way tonight. Needing just one goal to have a decent chance of progression, Besiktas was happy to sit back a little more than they did in the first leg, but still brought the high-intensity and bar stool breaking football that you’d expect.
Both Jack Wilshere and Alexis Sanchez put in quality performances when it mattered most today
With Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Flamini in the midfield and Atiba Hutchinson available for selection for the Istanbul side, Besiktas had every chance in the world to progress after their promising showing in the first leg. Sanchez would score his goal in the later stages of the first half after Arsenal did brilliantly around the area to carve open space on the right for himself and Wilshere, but the Chilean international would step up when it mattered most to open his account.
Speaking of Wilshere, though his performance in the first half as sub-par (as was the teams on the whole despite going into the dressing room 1-0 up), he would respond brilliantly in the second half; it was the type of performance from him that so many of us want to see more of. Love his heart all you must, but Wilshere has been plagued by inconsistency for at least the past season, but putting in a much improved shift tonight will surely do wonders for himself and the club.
The back-four was as solid as ever, with Mertesacker and Koscielny back together and holding hands and Debuchy proving yet again that his purchase this summer was the right one, rather than giving Sagna a six-figure salary with aging legs attached to them. Despite him being sent off for two bookable offenses, he still played quite well; for me, he should have been removed to protect against seeing a second yellow, but I digress.
Lastly, with the attacking options we have, there’s no reason at all for Ozil to ever play wide on the left. Many will argue that he did it for Germany this summer, but you must remember that the German’s play a different style than we do, and he’ll have different responsibilities there. Numerous times tonight, he showed why he’s more of a liability. With Podolski and Campbell on the bench, you had the options of experience in Poldi, and young and quick with Campbell – either would have been more prudent.
On the whole we got through, and while that is all that matters, the proceedings on the pitch made it abundantly clear that we may struggle without Giroud, while also reminding that Ramsey’s importance to the team cannot ever be understated. Despite Giroud’s injury, it appears that Wenger will not dip into the market for a striker, though we all know the games he likes to play, so only time will tell – COYG
"Man of the MatchFor me, it has to be Sanchez surely. Not only did he bag his first goal (of many, I hope) for the club, but his tireless efforts were crucial yet again. Whether he had the ball at his feet, was making a run into space, or working hard to regain possession, Sanchez put in a speedy-gonzalez type of performance at a crucial point in the season. It’s unsure if Wenger will call on him to fill the void left in the wake of Giroud’s injury, but regardless of where he’ll feature in the coming months, Sanchez will be key for the Gunners. He ha yet to truly find his footing and his niche at the club, but when he does, he’ll be worth every pound."
A reminder that the Champions League group stage draw takes place tomorrow, so here are the pots and potential opponents for Arsenal come September;
Pot 1: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Benfica, FC Porto
Pot 2: FC Schalke, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Paris Saint Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Basel, Zenit, Manchester City
Pot 3: Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, CSKA Moscow, Ajax, Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon, Galatasaray, Athletic Bilbao
Pot 4: Anderlecht, AS Roma, APOEL, BATE, Maribor, AS Monaco, Malmo, Ludogorets
Andrew Thompson is a contributing writer at both We Are Hooligans and Outside Of The Boot. Follow him on Twitter @AFCBvB1410