Besiktas 0 – Arsenal 0
Ataturk Olympic Stadium (Champions League)
Player Ratings (via Arseblog News) – Match Highlights – Wenger’s Press Conference
Following Arsenal’s late win over Crystal Palace, there was little time to rest as the Gunners flew to Turkey for a crucial clash against Besiktas. Arsene Wenger made two changes from the team that was victorious against Palace with Nacho Monreal stepping in for the injured Kieran Gibbs while Olivier Giroud played in Yaya Sanogo’s stead.
Right from kickoff, Demba Ba noticed that Wojciech Szczesny was off his line and he attempted an audacious attempt that almost embarrassed the goalie but he was alert to the danger. The home side put the Gunners under some intense pressure but the defensive rearguard stood firm to withstand wave after wave of some Turkish delightful attacks. Matt Debuchy even suffered a nasty gash to his shin while trying to clear the ball away from danger.
The pressure finally took its toll and almost reaped fruit when Ba latched onto a neat Olcay Sahan pass and side-footed the ball goalwards but Szczesny was on hand to make a superb save.
Alexis Sanchez waltzed with the ball on the right flank before drilling it to Giroud’s path but the Frenchman failed to connect with the ball. Sanchez continued to stamp his authority on the game with another threaded ball to Santi Cazorla but the Spaniard to the ball on his stride before firing his shot wide.
Jack Wilshere was offered a chance at goal and he wasted no time in curling a shot that was saved by Zengin. A lapse in concentration allowed Demba Ba a sniff at goal but his effort missed by a lick of paint. Sanchez ran the show for the Gunners and fashioned some chances for Giroud but the Frenchman was having a torrid outing which was epitomized by this…
Aaron Ramsey had done amazingly well to tee the ball to Giroud’s path but the Frenchman couldn’t even control the ball, much to the exasperation of Arsenal fans watching the game.
At the start of the second half, Ramsey had a chance to shoot the ball but he dallied on the ball which allowed the Besiktas defense to cover their tracks. Ex-Gunner, Oguzhan Ozyakup split the Arsenal defense with a pass that was like hot knife through butter and his ball fell kindly to Olcay Sahan’s path but the bearded bloke curled his effort just beyond Szczesny’s far post.
Arsenal’s bad night went a whole lot worse when Mikel Arteta suffered an injury that required him to be substituted.
He was replaced by Mathieu Flamini that earned himself an expected booking as the game progressed.
Things that are sure in this life. Death, taxes, England losing penalties and Flamini getting a yellow card
— èη!gmá (@enigma106) August 19, 2014
Arsenal sparked into life when Sanchez and Debuchy connected well on the right but the French defender’s cut back to Giroud was blocked after the forward pulled the trigger. Sanchez then tried hard to make a surging run before feeding Giroud and as expected, he lost the ball, much to the frustration of his teammates and fans alike. With Sanchez having nothing left in the reserves, he was replaced by the Ox.
Late on, Monreal did well to create a free kick on the edge of the area after he was fouled by some bloke but Cazorla’s free kick was straight at the goalie. With 10 minutes to go or so, Ramsey earned himself an early bath for a stupidly hauling down Ozyakup and that put the Gunners in a rather precarious situation.
Funnily enough, the Gunners had the chance to grab a vital away goal when a defensive error allowed the Ox to have a run at goal before he blasted a shot that was parried to the post by Zengin. Wilshere attempted to head the rebound but the Besiktas defense did enough to clear the ball to safety.
In the end, a draw was fair reflection of two team with shitty attacks and good defenders. Demba Ba might have performed better than Giroud on the night but his attempts on didn’t hit the back of the net, which was a good thing for the Gunners. However, Giroud’s case could only be settled in Mount Olympus.
Olivier Giroud failed to have a single shot on target against Besiktas and only completed 52% of his 29 passes #AFC #Arsenal
— Stats Per 90 (@StatsPer90) August 19, 2014
All focus would be on the Everton game coming up this weekend. More on the game as we draw closer.
It was a lackluster
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