The performance wasn't pretty, but Arsenal's goalless draw against Red Star Belgrade was enough to secure their passage into the last 32 of the Europa League with two games to spare.
The result also puts the Gunners in pole position to finish top of Group H as they hold a five-point lead over the second-placed Serbian side going into the remaining matches.
Arsenal started the stronger of the two sides with Theo Walcott seeing an early shot deflect over the bar. Ainsley Maitland-Niles then set up Olivier Giroud, whose shot was saved by the legs of Milan Borjan soon after.
A great run by Joe Willock saw the youngster set up Giroud, but the Frenchman was once again denied by Borjan in the visitor's goal. Although Arsenal enjoyed more possession, it was in fact the side from Serbia who enjoyed the best chances of the first half.
Slavoljub Srnic's shot was palmed over by Matt Macey in the Arsenal goal before the young shot-stopper produced an even better save to tip Vujadin Savic's header onto the underside of the crossbar.
Richmond Boakye wasted a big chance for Red Star Belgrade on the stroke of half-time when he shot wide after having been played through on goal.
Arsenal improved after the break but, in truth, the second half wasn't much of a spectacle either with a goal-line clearance the closest the hosts came to scoring.
Within two minutes of the restart Giroud shot over the crossbar from outside the box, while Srnic shot straight at Macey at the other end.
Arsenal had shouts for a penalty turned down when Jack Wilshere went down in the box under a challenge from Savic, before an attempted cross was blocked by the hands of the same player. Savic slid in for the ball and knocked it onto his hand and there wasn't much he could have done about it, so it would have been harsh had it gone against him.
The Gunners best chance of the second half fell to Wilshere shortly after the hour mark. The midfielder burst into the box and clipped the ball over the goalkeeper Borjan, but somehow Damien Le Tallec managed to clear his effort off the line acrobatically.
Chances came and went for Arsenal as Giroud shot wide before Walcott sent a header off target.
It was good to see another youngster, Eddie Nketiah, get a run out for the final 22 minutes, but he was unable to have the same impact he had in our Carabao Cup win over Norwich.
Boakye missed another good opportunity for Red Star Belgrade when he shot wide of the near post nine minutes from time.
Arsenal left it late to win the away fixture against the Serbian outfit, but there was no drama this time as both Rob Holding and Francis Coquelin sent efforts wide in the final minutes.
Arsenal's youngsters not looking out of place in the starting line-up on a European night, whilst also securing qualification into the knock-out stages, are about the only positives I can take from a dull game.
GROUP H
With qualification into the last 32 now secure focus will switch to the race to finish top in Group H.
Arsenal currently lie in pole position and, although performances haven't been as majestic as we have sometimes seen from the Gunners in the past, we have got the job done with three wins and a draw.
Those results give us a five-point lead over our nearest challengers Red Star Belgrade, but our next Europa League opponents Cologne aren't out of it yet either. Cologne beat BATE Borisov 5-2 to give them their first win of the campaign and they are actually only two points behind Red Star Belgrade.
It is all in our own hands and barring anything silly we really should be finishing top of this group without any problems. However, the race for second looks like it is going to be very close and we could have a big say in it!
I still find it difficult to get too excited by the Europa League and, although it is great to see some youngsters coming through, we really need to up our performance levels in the remaining group matches.
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
It may not have been the ideal performance, but we got the point that was needed to secure qualification and also kept our unbeaten home record intact.
Focus must now immediately switch to the Premier League and to two huge and very difficult back-to-back matches. A trip to title favourites Manchester City is next on the horizon and, although I know we have a chance of getting something if we play to our best, the match makes me nervous. Manchester City are in great form and are a very difficult team to stop. We cannot afford any of our silly defensive lapses and we may not get too many chances either, so we must be clinical on the day if we are to get anything. The odds are stacked heavily in Manchester City's favour, but I guess you never know.
It is important to get a decent result against City, not only for our points tally, but also to boost confidence ahead of what will be as equally as tough a match against our bitter North London rivals Tottenham two weeks after. Gone are the days where I feel super confident ahead of these games. As much as we don't like it we are no longer clear favourites, but surely home advantage can at least give us a slight edge...but we have to make it count!
A nervous few weeks await us so let's just hope we have something to celebrate by the end of it and still have our pride intact!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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