Arsenal sealed their place in the last 32 of the Europa League this evening despite seeing their 100% record in the competition come to an end at the hands of Red Star Belgrade.
The Serbian visitors came closest to breaking the deadlock at the Emirates Stadium when Vujadin Savic saw his header turned onto the crossbar, while Richmond Boakye also squandered two one-on-one chances.
Arsenal had an effort of their own brilliantly cleared off the line after Jack Wilshere had beaten the keeper with his finish, but results elsewhere meant that a draw was ultimately enough for the Gunners to progress.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
The Gunners are in control of Group H and could qualify for the last 32 with two games to spare tonight, but their visitors have plenty to fight for too, with only goal difference currently keeping them out of the top two.
It is all to play for tonight, then, and Arsenal will be bidding to keep up the European success from their fellow top six rivals following a memorable night in the Champions League last night.
Arsenal will not be able to bear being outshone by their fiercest rivals and, while nothing they could do tonight would overshadow that Spurs win, they can at least come up with some response by qualifying for the last 32 this evening.
It took until the 85th minute for the Gunners to find a way through against their hosts, but it was worth the wait as Olivier Giroud scored a stunning goal to fire Arsenal to all three points and leave them on the brink of the knockout stages upon their return to this competition.
Well, I said we were expecting changes from Arsenal and Arsene Wenger certainly hasn't disappointed - a full 11 from the weekend win over Swansea as the Gunners rest all of their main men ahead of Sunday's trip to Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Ozil, Lacazette and Sanchez are amongst those to miss out completed, while Cech is the only recognised senior player even on the bench.
The Englishman will be desperate to take his chance and perhaps begin to challenge Ospina for the number two spot once he returns to fitness, but he will also know that chances like this are very rare. Big night for the 23-year-old shot-stopper.
That means that same starting back three of Debuchy, Elneny and Rob Holding, which I suspect may not be the back line Wenger opts for at the Etihad Stadium this weekend. Elneny is more familiar with a midfield role, Debuchy has made his name as a right-back, while Holding has failed to fulfil his potential so far, so it is very much a makeshift back three tonight.
Neither Nelson nor Maitland-Niles will need any encouragement to get forward whenever they can tonight, and they will be expected to spend most of their time in the opposition half, pinning Red star back as the Gunners dominate possession.
Walcott and Wilshere have only experienced 40 minutes of Premier League football between them all season so far, with the majority of their game time coming in this competition, but rather than being disheartened by that they must see nights like tonight as a chance to show Wenger what they can do and earn a place in his plans on the domestic front.
Even so, the French striker's goal in the reverse fixture last month made it seven in his last eight European starts for the club, while he has also contributed an assist in that time meaning that he has had a direct hand in eight goals in as many games for the Gunners in Europe.
That is the only change made by manager Vladan Milojevic from the first leg, though, as he otherwise keeps faith with the team that pushed Arsenal so close in the hope that they can produce something similar tonight.
Boakye scored seven goals in the qualifying stages for the groups this season, leaving him as the joint top-scorer in that section, so he certainly knows where the goal is.
For Arsenal the task is simple tonight: win and they qualify for the last 32. However, even a draw could be enough to see them reach the knockout rounds with two games to spare should BATE fail to beat Koln.
The Gunners have adapted quickly to their return to second tier of European football having won all three of their group games so far, beating Koln in their previous home game before back-to-back wins over BATE and Red Star in Belarus and Serbia respectively.
Arsene Wenger's side are one of only four teams who can still boast a 100% record in the group stages, and with four consecutive victories across all competitions heading into this one, they will be confident of maintaining that record tonight.
Arsenal's title hopes already looks bleak for another season, though, with the Gunners currently trailing Manchester City by nine points ahead of Sunday's trip to the Etihad Stadium. Only Newcastle have lost more games than Arsenal in the top half of the table, and should they become the latest team to be swept aside by City at the weekend then they could all but kiss their title hopes goodbye after just 11 games.
Indeed, stretching back to last season Arsenal have now won their last 13 home matches across all competitions - a run which dates back to a 2-2 draw with Manchester City at the beginning of April.
Victory tonight would make it six consecutive home wins in the UEFA Cup/Europa League for Arsenal under Arsene Wenger, with the Frenchman drawing his first such match but boasting a perfect record since then.
Another win tonight would mark only the second time Arsenal have ever won their opening four group games in a European competition, and the omens would be good too as the previous occasion came in 2005-06, when they reached the final of the Champions League.
This will already be their 28th game across all competitions this season, and in that time they have only lost three games, with 20 victories and four draws in that time too. Arsenal have played 11 games fewer than their opponents tonight, so they should have fresher legs.
Red Star have kept 18 clean sheets in their 27 games across all competitions this season, including in each of their last two games coming into this one. On only two occasions have they conceded more than one goal in a game, and overall they have let in just 13 during those 27 outings.
It is a different story in attack, though. Red Star once again lead the way domestically on that front, with 32 goals from their 15 league games, but in the Europa League they have scored just twice.
Red Star finished second in the league last season and so are looking to make amends this time around, and they have made a good start towards doing that.
Indeed, Red Star have won eight of their last 10 away games with clean sheets in each of those games, going on to lose any match they have conceded in on the travels since July. Overall away from home this season, Red Star have won 10, drawn two and lost two of their 14 outings.
Milojevic's side had to overcome opposition from Malta, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic and Russia to reach the group stages for the first time since 2007-08, and are one of only three teams - alongside Skenderbeu and Maccabi Tel-Aviv - to have made it all the way from the first knockout round to the groups.
The Serbian outfit have picked up only one point from their two home games so far compared to maximum points from their away visit to Koln, and another win this evening would give them back-to-back European away victories for the first time since November 1991.
Red Star actually won the European Cup in 1991, so they do have pedigree on the continent, but they have failed to reach the group stages of the Champions League since 1991-92.
Arsenal found things difficult in Belgrade and, while Red Star are an organised outfit who don't tend to give cheap goals away, things should be a little easier for the Gunners tonight. It is a second-string team, and a third-string bench, but they should still have enough.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Arsenal 2-0 Red Star Belgrade
The Gunners failed to win either of those legs on that occasions, losing 1-0 in Belgrade before being held to a 1-1 draw at Highbury, with Alan Sunderland scoring the goal for Terry Neil's Arsenal side.
The Gunners won both of those matches 3-1, with Theo Walcott amongst the scorers when the other big Belgrade club visited the Emirates.
Their only previous win on English soil came back in 1973, and it was a memorable one as the club inflicted a first ever home European Cup defeat on Liverpool by winning 2-1 at Anfield.
ARSENAL STARTING XI: Macey; Debuchy, Elneny, Holding; Nelson, Willock, Coquelin, Maitland-Niles; Walcott, Wilshere; Giroud
RED STAR STARTING LINEUP: Borjan; Stojkovic, Savic, Le Tallec, Gobeljic; Donald, Krsticic, Srnic, Kanga, Radonjic; Boakye
Arsenal, as expected, dominated possession for the most part, but the best chances have fallen the way of Red Star and they will feel that they should be ahead at the interval.
Arsenal seemed to think that the danger had gone at that point, but the ball looped into the box and Savic reacted best to get his head on the end of it. It took a fine stop from Macey to turn the ball onto the crossbar, with the Arsenal keeper preventing his side from falling behind.
Indeed, his finish was really disappointing as he placed an effort wide of the target, not even forcing Macey into a save when he really should have scored.
The first came after good work from Maitland-Niles, while Willock created the second, but neither resulted in the opening goal of the contest.
Nelson tries a run forward of his own at the other end, but he is stopped in his tracks by a brilliant crunching challenge from Savic.
It was by no means a classic tonight, and Red Star could have easily come away with a famous win from this match having hit the bar and squandered two more clear chances, but Arsenal also had an effort cleared off the line so a draw is probably a fair result.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's Europa League contest as Arsenal progress into the last 32 despite being held to a goalless draw by Red Star Belgrade at the Emirates Stadium. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
