Aaron Ramsey was sent off as Arsenal were unable to find an away goal in a frustrating stalemate at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
The Gunners failed to create too many chances in Turkey, lacked an away goal and saw their key man Ramsey dismissed for two bookable offences, both for shirt pulling. Personally I still think the English club will win the home leg next week and progress into the group stages of the Champions League for the 17th consecutive season.
It wasn't all negative for Arsene Wenger's men either with Calum Chambers, who was making his European debut, producing another top class performance for the visitors. I keep forgetting Chambers is only 19 when he plays with such professionalism and maturity. It is still early days but he is slotting in very well.
Fellow new-boy Mathieu Debuchy looked lively at times. The foundations are there and Arsenal have a very good squad, but I still feel another two or three signings are needed. Although Chambers is making great progress we still need more back-up in defence and it looks like Kostas Manolas will be joining us from Olympiacos. A defensive midfielder such as Sami Khedira, or another big-name player in that position, would be of big benefit to the Gunners, but whether there is still a possibility of that deal is anybody's guess...who knows what will happen there!? The final, and arguably most important, signing would be a striker. Olivier Giroud is capable of brilliance but also has frustrating performances like against Besiktas, too hit and miss to be our main option. We need another forward to take the pressure off Giroud's shoulders - as a second striker I'm confident he'd do the job, but he can't do it alone that's for sure!
So, back to the game, and there really isn't too much to talk about. Demba Ba tried his luck straight from kick-off and only the woodwork prevented him from scoring one of the quickest goals in Champions League history. Incidentally, the Gunners once held the record for the fastest ever Champions League record when Gilberto Silva scored against PSV in under 21 seconds in September 2002.
Although both sides created some chances there was not too much else of noteworthy of mentioning from the first half in a largely forgettable contest.
Arsenal's hopes of getting a result were dealt a cruel blow when Ramsey was sent off for a second bookable offence with 10 minutes remaining. Some might say he was unlucky, others may say he was a silly boy! Either way, we are without a key player for the second leg, but we shouldn't blame him for the lack of victory. He's only human after all, we all make mistakes and he is still a top class player.
Despite being a man down the Gunners almost won it in the dying stages when substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ran through the Besiktas defence, getting the better of a few of his opponents before firing a shot towards goal, only for Tolga Zengin to turn his effort onto a post.
The Gunners were unable to find that all important away goal and were forced to settle for a draw. A draw is frustrating but 12 wins and one draw from 13 Champions League play-off ties is a very decent record so we shouldn't be too disheartened. Just three goals conceded in that time too, so we have proved we are a tough nut to crack.
I fully expect home advantage to prove decisive next week so let's hope I'm right.
Roll on the second leg
Come on you Gunners
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