Goals: Arsenal-Sanchez 45'
Recap: It wasn't the easiest of victories, but Arsenal were finally able to move past Besiktas and qualify for the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
A timely finish from Alexis Sanchez in the dying minutes of the first half opened the affair. Despite seeing Mathieu Debuchy sent off with a second bookable offense, the Gunners were able to hold off a listless Besiktas side. After 90 minutes, the Turkish outfit only managed to muster one shot on target.
Arsenal return to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for a 17th consecutive year.
Key Moment: Besiktas had one final opportunity to pull of a remarkable upset. Unfortunately for the club, Demba Ba allowed it to slip away. The equalizer would've seen Besiktas through on the away-goal tiebreaker.
Man of the Match: In addition to his match-winner, Sanchez finished the match with four take-ons and four fouls drawn.
Lesson Learned: Sanchez has paid Arsenal virtually every cent back. The Gunners looked more likely to concede than take control of the match early on, but one tidy finish erased all doubts at the Emirates. After arriving for a reported £32 million transfer fee, the 25-year-old has allowed the club to earn a similar figure with Champions League football on the horizon. Money. Well. Spent.
Arsenal paid £32m for Alexis Sanchez, if they proceed to group stages of the Champions League they'll earn around £32m. — Transfer Sources (@TransferSources) August 27, 2014
Up Next: Both clubs return to league play this weekend. Besiktas travel to Mersin to face Mersin Idmanyurdu on Saturday, while Arsenal visit Leicester to battle Leicester City on Sunday.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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