Alexis Sanchez scored his first goal for his new club as Arsenal secured their place in the Champions League group stages for a 17th consecutive season.
The summer signing from Barcelona scored in first-half stoppage time as the 10-man Gunners secured a 1-0 aggregate win over Besiktas in their Champions League play-off at the Emirates.
Sanchez will now be an even more vital member of Arsenal's front-line following the news that Olivier Giroud is set to be sidelined with an ankle injury until January.
The news comes as a huge blow to Gunners' boss Arsene Wenger and speculation will now increase on whether or not he will make any moves in the market before the transfer window closes next week.
Arsenal still arguably need a defensive midfielder but, more crucially, a striker is even higher up on the wish list now with Giroud now unlikely to play again in 2014. Lukas Podolski has yet to feature this season and Yaya Sanogo is still developing his game, while Sanchez is better utilised when used on the wing as opposed to up front. Although the Gunners squad is full of great talent it is still lacking a top class striker. Not only do we need cover for Giroud but a world class striker could be the difference between another fourth-placed finish and a serious title challenge. Like many Gooners, I am hoping Wenger acts quickly and signs someone before the window slams shut next week.
Back to the game and there wasn't much to choose between the sides in the Champions League play-off tie. Although Besiktas didn't create too many clear-cut chances, the Turkish outfit still managed to have the home fans on the edge of their seats for the majority of the game.
Gunners' fans felt a huge sense of relief when the visitors were denied two penalties in the first half. As biased as it may sound, I don't think either were penalties and think the referee got it spot on. In fact, for Jack Wilshere's challenge I thought he'd missed both the man and the ball and connected with neither until I later heard on Sky Sports news that the midfielder had apparently admitted to making contact. Also thought Mathieu Debuchy's challenge was fair, although I'd have to see the replay of that one again to be sure!
But Besiktas definitely can't just blame the referee; they should have been more clinical with their chances, with Demba Ba missing a great chance in the closing stages of the match. The Turks had at least looked like holding the scores goalless in the first half, until Wilshere played a neat one-two with Mesut Ozil before finding Sanchez to coolly slot home after 46 minutes.
Ba wasted a great chance in the second half when his shot hit the side-netting before Arsenal really should have doubled their advantage. Besiktas piled on the pressure and the tension increased when Arsenal were reduced to 10 men after Debuchy was booked for a second bookable offence. Some may say it was slightly harsh, but two red cards over two legs is not a good statistic and the discipline needs to be improved at the Emirates.
Luckily for Arsenal, the visitors failed to make their extra man count and when Ba failed to get on the end of a dangerous cross, the Gunners were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Reaching the group stages of the Champions League for a 17th successive season is a superb achievement and one to be proud of but we need to be aiming much higher than that.
On a tense night at the Emirates there were a lot of positives, even if the game itself proved far tenser than expected. Sanchez's work-rate was top class. He worked tirelessly throughout the game and thoroughly deserved his goal. Laurent Koscielny was a superb rock at the back and Debuchy looked decent...well until his dismissal that is! Wilshere also impressed, especially in the second half. The only big negatives for me were Giroud's injury and Ozil, who again looked a shadow of the player who produced an array of assists in his first few games at the club and now looks void of ideas despite being a World Cup winner.
Calum Chambers booking was also ridiculous. All he did was come on to the field as a substitute a fraction too early and before the referee had officially given him permission to. It was worthy of a swift telling off but not a yellow card.
It is important to focus on the positives and not get complacent when we travel to Leicester on Sunday, a game we really should be winning. We may not have put in the performances many fans had been hoping for but if someone had said to me before the start of the season we'd take four points from the opening two games and win the two-legged Champions League play-off I think I'd have taken that.
In other news, the draw for the third round of the League Cup took place on the same evening we secured Champions League progression. The Gunners will host Ronald Koeman's Southampton next month and I think home advantage will prove key to see us through, so long as we can find our top form and not underestimate Southampton. They have lost some key players over the summer but are still a tough nut to crack.
We definitely need to up our game as the performances haven't been ideal, but we started the season with silverware and are still unbeaten and long may it continue. If we can improve the performances and maintain a high level of consistency maybe we can mount more of a serious title challenge.
I just hope there is at least one new face in our squad, ideally a striker, before the transfer window closes until January, so let's wait and see what happens.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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