كتب : Amro Hassan
Arsenal were without Theo Walcott, Bacary Sagna and Emmanuel Adebayor who are all injured, and with one eye on next weekend’s league match against Manchester United, Arsene Wenger opted to rest keeper Manuel Almunia.
The absentees looked to have taken their toll on the Gunners, who looked totally different from the side that beat Fenerbahce in Turkey last round.
The hosts’ only real chance of the game was in the first half, when Robin Van Persie cut from the right flank and curled a powerful left-footed effort tipped by Volkan Demirel off the bar.
In the second half, Arsenal had most of the possession, but the visiting defense held their ground easily to earn coach Luis Aragones the away point.
Also in the same group, Porto came out with a crucial 2-1 win from their trip to Dynamo Kiev.
A 69th minute Rolando header brought Porto back in the game after Artim Milevsky put Dynamo ahead on 21 minutes.
While Dynamo were pushing for a second, Porto assassinated a perfect counter attack led by Leisandro who squared to Lucho Gonzalez before the Argentine tapped in the Dynamo net.
While Porto’s win moved them to second with six points, Arsenal are still top of Group G with eight.
Qualification berths are up for grabs in the group as Zenit and BATE are third and fourth with five and two points respectively.
Watch Porto match goals