Sanchez strike end Beşiktaş hopes, sends 10-man Arsenal through

Beşiktaş's Ba and Tosun react after their Champions League playoff match against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium in London, Aug. 27. REUTERS Photo

Alexis Sanchez's first Arsenal goal earned his side a nervy 1-0 victory over Beşiktaş on Aug. 27 that saw them squeeze into the Champions League for the 17th consecutive season.

The Chilean, Arsenal's number 17, repaid the first instalment of his 30 million ($50.4 million, 37.6 million euros) transfer fee by tucking away a low shot in first-half stoppage time, but the hosts' inability to kill the game off made for a night of nail-biting tension at the Emirates Stadium.

Mathieu Debuchy's dismissal for two yellow cards meant that Arsenal saw out the last 15 minutes with 10 men, but although a solitary goal would have sent the Turkish side through after last week's goalless draw in Istanbul, the hosts held on for a 1-0 aggregate win.

"We produced the performance we wanted -- on the tactical side, on the technical side, and on the mental side," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who revealed that striker Olivier Giroud will be out for up to four months after undergoing surgery on a broken tibia.

"We were at the level that was requested tonight against a good team, but we couldn't finish the game off and that made it nervous in the last 10 minutes when we were down to 10 men."

Wenger's side, who lost to Bayern Munich in the last 16 last season, will discover the identities of their group-phase opponents in the draw on Aug. 28.

"Of course we are gutted, because we played good in both games and are close to qualifying for the Champions League against great opponents," Beşiktaş coach Slaven Bilic told Sky Sports.

"Those couple of chances we had to score, but we didn't. Congratulations to Arsenal. They had the experience and quality up front when needed." Arsenal were missing Aaron Ramsey through...

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