ANKARA
Ten-man Arsenal held on to a 1-0 first half lead over Turkey's Besiktas on Wednesday night to secure their spot in UEFA Champions League group stage.
The Emirates Stadium in London witnessed a highly contested game, with both sides creating chances to force the tie to end in their favor.
Home team Arsenal's English central midfielder Jack Wilshere's close range shot shaved the post in 9th minute.
In the 40th minute Besiktas appealed to the referee for a penalty kick as Turkish team's Brazilian left-back Ramon Motta slipped, but Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca said play on.
Three minutes later Arsenal's Chilen star forward Alexis Sanchez's tap was saved by Besiktas goalkeeper Tolga Zengin.
In the first half's stoppage time Arsenal took the lead in the clash when the Gunners' forward Alexis getting assisted by Wilshere's through ball made a classy finish to the far left post. The first half ended 1-0.
Arsenal were very close to increase the gap to two in 53rd minute. London giants' French defender Laurent Koscielny's flick was deflected by Tolga Zengin.
Arsenal's French right-back Mathieu Debuchy's header at the far post missed the target after a freekick whipped by Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla in 60th minute.
Besiktas' Senegalese forward Demba Ba hit side net in 64th minute.
Arsenal's English winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain missed a great chance in 75th minute and right after French right-back Debuchy was sent off after receiving his second yellow card as he made a foul. Arsenal were obliged to compete with 10 men.
Besiktas increased the pressure to equalise the level against 10-man Arsenal through the last 10 minutes as Gunners preferred a defensive style of play.
In 88th minute Ba missed a header at the far post, upsetting Turkish club's fans. In remaining time Besiktas looked for an equalizer, but Arsenal managed to defend their goal well.
The game ended as a victory for the English side.
-Teams to play in 2014-15 UEFA Champions League groups have been unveiled after the second leg playoff round on Wednesday night.
Results of the second leg matches are as follows:
Ludogorets - Steaua Bucharest: 6 - 5 (Aggregate 1-1, Ludogorets win 6-5 on penalties)
Malmo - Salzburg: 3 - 0 (Aggregate 4-2)
Athletic Bilbao - Napoli: 3 - 1 (Aggregate 4-2)
Arsenal - Besiktas: 1 - 0 (Aggregate 1-0)
Bayer Leverkusen - Copenhagen: 4 - 0 (Aggregate 7-2)
After these results Ludogorets, Malmo, Athletic Bilbao, Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen qualified for the group stage in Champions League.
Apart from the teams mentioned above Zenit, BATE Borisov, Maribor, APOEL and Porto advanced to the groups on Tuesday night.
- UEFA Champions League groups will be drawn Thursday
The group stage draw will be made on Thursday when all 32 contenders have been confirmed. The draw at Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, will start at 17:45CET.
The 32 teams will be split into four seeding pots based on UEFA's coefficient system. One from each pot will be drawn into eight groups named from A to H, where no team can meet another from the same association.
Turkish club Galatasaray, which is among the 22 automatic entrants, will participate in the draw as a third-pot side.
- 2014-15 UEFA Champions League pots are as follows:
Pot 1
Real Madrid (Spain)
Barcelona (Spain)
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Chelsea (England)
Benfica (Portugal)
Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Arsenal (England)
Porto (Portugal)
Pot 2
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Juventus (Italy)
Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Basel (Switzerland)
Zenit (Russia)
Manchester City (England)
Pot 3
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
Olympiacos (Greece)
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Ajax (Netherlands)
Liverpool (England)
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Athletic Bilbao (Spain)
Pot 4
Anderlecht (Belgium)
Roma (Italy)
APOEL (Greek Cypriot administration)
BATE Borisov (Belarus)
Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
Maribor (Slovenia)
Monaco (France)
Malmo (Sweden)
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