Wojciech Szczesny barely managed to save Demba Ba’s punt from the opening kickoff, the ball coming off the crossbar, saving the keeper’s blushes.
Ba would continue to remain a threat, having two excellent chances to put the Turk’s ahead. His second, a volley, was well saved by Szczesny and his third chance, the best of the match, saw him drag the ball wide after taking advantage of a Chambers slip.
Arsenal’s best chance of the first half came when Sanchez broke free on the right and crossed to Giroud. Unfortunately, the ball was a little behind him and he couldn’t get a clean shot away.
In the second half the Turks had the upper hand, but failed to create many clear chances. The best fell to Sahan, whose shot curled inches wide of the far post.
Everything changed for Arsenal when Aaron Ramsey was sent off following his second holding offence. Suddenly it was a game of survival, not one to try to win.
However, Arsenal almost did nick it in the end when Oxlade-Chamberlain burst through, unleashed a thunderbolt, which hit the upright after the gentlest of touch by the Besiktas keeper.
Arsenal will try to put the tie right next week in London, but without Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta, who limped off early in the second half.
Player Ratings:
Wojciech Szczesny 7. Was he sleepily way off his line at the opening? Probably, however he managed to save it and make several other good saves. Looks assured coming off his line and claiming crosses.
Matthieu Debuchy 7. Attacks effectively, made one really great cross, and he defended well.
Callum Chambers 7. Yes, he made some mistakes, he fell down once, but he played very well for just his first Champion’s League outing. He had a busy game, but he was effective.
Laurent Koscielny 7. An excellent performance by Arsenal’s best defender.
Nacho Monreal 7. Was not able to get forward as often as Debuchy, but he was tidy on defence.
Mikel Arteta 7. He was having a pretty typical game when he was clipped on the ankle.
Jack Wilshere 7. Arguably my man of the match. He did make some mistakes, some short passes, but he looked effective coming forward. Had one good shot on goal during the second half.
Aaron Ramsey 6. Not Aaron’s best day. He had one good chance during the game to score, but he never made good contact. His yellow cards were both flimsy calls, but once he had one card he shouldn’t have had his hands near an opponent.
Alexis Sanchez 7. He put in a lot of work and he looked a constant threat on the flank, where he put in a couple of good crosses. One gets the sense he still hasn’t got going yet.
Olivier Giroud 3. I have to admit I stood up and shouted at the TV set and Giroud on more than one occasion. Almost every attack or move that faltered did so once he touched the ball. The simplest of passes, the easiest of traps … he couldn’t do anything. How can a player who was playing in the World Cup about five weeks ago look so poor? What was worse was that we had nobody to come in and replace him with Yaya being injured.
Santi Cazorla 6. He had a few moments, but too often he was pushed off the ball or forced to dribble into cul-de-sacs.
Substitutes:
Flamini 7. Came in and steadied the ship after Arteta went out. Received a yellow card for a rather innocuous challenge.
Oxlade-Chamberlain 7. Inches from being the hero, his powerful shot hit the upright and bounced out. Injected a little pace into the flagging Gunners.
Rosicky n/a. Brought on to waste time.