Arsenal will be satisfied to get away from Turkey tonight with a draw after a very competitive match in which Besiktas, and Demba Ba in particular, will feel they might have netted a couple of goals.
The game started in bizarre fashion as Ba spotted Szczesny off his line and attempted an audacious shot from the halfway line which the Polish goalkeeper just about managed to get back to and tip onto the bar. That near-miss visibly rattled the Gunners and the Senegalese striker stretched the Arsenal 'keeper again a few minutes later with an excellent volley that was matched with a superb save.
Typically, Arsenal had their chances in the first-half, too, with Olivier Giroud causing problems in the Besiktas box. Arsenal's biggest chance of the game came late in the game, however, as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hit the woodwork with an excellent effort.
The Gunners now know that they will have to record a win at home in the second leg next Wednesday but they will be without the services of their talismanic Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey after he received two yellow cards this evening. However, the Turks may be missing their manager as Slaven Bilic was given his marching orders for protesting Arsenal's time-wasting late in the game.
Elsewhere in tonight's first legs of the Champions League playoffs, there were wins for Bayer Leverkusen, Salzburg and Steaua Bucharest while Athletic Bilbao and Napoli recorded a 1-1 draw.
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