Arsenal booked their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League despite a goalless draw at home to Red Star Belgrade.
Arsene Wenger continued his policy of rotating out his Premier League side for this competition and the Gunners were lacklustre and against the cosh in the first half before a late second-half surge proved fruitless.
Jack Wilshere, who earlier in the day missed out on the England squad as Gareth Southgate underlined a need for more regular first-team action, could have won the game but was denied by a goal-line clearance.
James Olley was in attendance to assess the key talking points...
Arsenal reach the last 32
A win would have seen Arsenal top Group H but this drab 0-0 draw at least ensures they qualify for the last 32.
Arsene Wenger’s attitude to the competition from here on will surely remain the same, however, given the need to give fringe players opportunities and the fact his teams have regularly contained several youngsters.
Wenger explained yesterday that he was looking to top the group so they could “look at the competition in a quieter way after”. That surely means a similar line-up for the trip to Cologne in three weeks’ time.
Europa League turn-off for supporters
This was Arsenal’s first European home game since the farcical scenes of Cologne’s visit to Emirates Stadium, when thousands of travelling supporters gained access to home sections of the ground with no segregation.
The hour delay to kick-off prompted some supporters – especially those with young children given safety concerns and the late start – to stay away so it was difficult to gauge the level of enthusiasm Arsenal fans had for the Europa League.
The answer was much clearer here. There were thousands of empty seats all around the ground – perhaps influenced by the modest opposition and weakened Arsenal line-up – but this was still a far cry from the big Champions League nights here.
There were in the region of 58,000 tickets sold but the number who actually turned up – not for the first time here – was much lower.
Wilshere struggles to prove Southgate wrong
Jack Wilshere was left out of Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad due to a lack of Premier League game-time but this was still an opportunity – on the day his omission was confirmed – to make a point.
Despite performing well in this competition to date, Wilshere was unable to shake Arsenal from their collective slumber.
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Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud combined for a spectacular winning goal in the reverse fixture but there was little sign of such interplay here until the midfielder had a glorious chance to break the deadlock just after the hour mark.
He scooped the ball past goalkeeper Milan Borjan only for Damien Le Tallec to produce a magnificent goal-line clearance. It really wasn’t to be his day.
Macey proves an able deputy
David Ospina’s groin injury and the proximity of Sunday’s trip to Manchester City enabled Matt Macey to make his European debut and just a second senior start for Arsenal following last month’s Carabao Cup outing against Norwich.
The 23-year-old needed every inch of his 6ft 6in frame to keep out Vujadin Savic’s 36th-minute header, tipping his effort onto the crossbar with a save Ospina, six inches shorter, may not have been capable of.
Macey made a more routine stop from Slavoljub Srnic earlier in the half and was otherwise tidy. Petr Cech and Ospina are firmly established as first and second choice but with Emiliano Martinez out on loan, Macey took his chance to prove a competent understudy.
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