Published 23rd August 2013 by @ArsenalTrend
The North London club now stand on the brink of a 17th straight qualification for the lucrative pool stages after a dreadful start to their Premier League campaign with defeat to Aston Villa.
A potential banana skin in the Turkish capital instead ended up as a smooth ride for the 2006 finalists as Aaron Gibbs and Oliver Giroud with a late penalty joined Ramsey on the score sheet.
The breakthrough after a dull opening half arrived in the 51st minute when Ramsey played in Theo Walcott down the right wing and the winger's cross was allowed to reach Gibbs who crashed the ball into the roof of the net.
Arsenal were trying to bounce back from a disappointing debut to their domestic season when they crashed 3-1 at home to Villa and endured the wrath of their fans who are growing increasingly impatient with the club's lack of activity in the transfer market.
Ramsey then scored a fortunate second goal with 24 minutes left when Fenerbahce 'keeper Volkan Demirel inexplicably allowed a routine shot from outside the box slip under his hands for a mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his career.
Giroud then planted a confident penalty in the top left hand corner after Michal Kadlec brought down Walcott on 77 minutes that has virtually put the tie beyond doubt.
The 'Gunners' have a proud record of having qualified for the group stages of every Champions League competition since 1998 but they laboured during a lacklustre first half that featured no goals and few chances.
Fenerbahce meanwhile were looking to reach the pool stages despite a potential ban looming over them for match fixing that has gone to appeal and will be decided on the eve of the draw.
The odds were stacked against them having beaten English opposition only once in European Cup history dating back to 1969 when they eliminated Manchester City 2-1 on aggregate.
The Istanbul club rarely threatened the Arsenal goal throughout the match and Arsene Wenger's team were able to take a firm stranglehold on the tie with three unanswered second half goals that will silence the critics at least temporarily.
The second leg is set for next Tuesday at the Emirates Stadium.
Team Line Ups
Arsenal : Szczesny ; Sagna , Mertesacker , Koscielny (Jenkinson, 33,), Gibbs ; Ramsey , Wilshere , Rosicky ; Walcott (Monreal, 87), Cazorla , Giroud (Podolski, 82).
Theo Walcott & MOTM Aaron Ramsey Post Match Reaction
Arsene Wenger Match Reaction
Kieran Gibbs Post Match Quotes Via Arsenal.com
"In terms of putting us in a good position, it [the win] has given us a bit of togetherness," said Gibbs. "I think people have seen tonight what the team is capable of and we have to take this now into the [rest] of the season.
"It [the goal] was a good moment for me. To be honest I felt we deserved to be up in the first half. I knew that to get an away goal tonight would put us in a strong position and we were desperate for that goal. I felt we deserved it and we got our rewards in the end after a good performance.
"I thought we were playing well from the start of the game and to be honest I thought we were better in the first half - we got a little bit apprehensive in the second half because we really wanted to get the goal. But we knew that the chances were going to come and it was a case of taking them when we got the opportunity.
"We know what we're capable of so we don't need to prove it to anyone. But we need to prove to ourselves that we can be consistent and start producing results week-in, week-out. That's down us and that's purely what we're focused on."Just a friendly reminder If you want more stories like this then subscribe to our site via email and get up to date with every post we post without missing a thing!
Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/ArsenalSupremo
Follow on Twitter https://twitter.com/Arsenal_Supremo
Subscribe to our videos on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/ArsenalHDSupremo
Why not join our Arsenal Fantasy Football League Now! Click Here
Match Highlights
0 comments:
Post a Comment