Arsenal stand firm as Sanchez earns Champions League spot

Chilean's first goal is worth £25m as he fires Gunners into group stages for 17th straight year

Alexis Sanchez
(Image credit: Ben Stansall / AFP / Getty)

Arsenal 1 Besiktas 0 [Arsenal win 1-0 on aggregate]. It was tense, it was tight, but at the end of 90 nervous minutes Arsenal had qualified for the 17th season of Champions League football.

Only a goal from Alexis Sanchez, his first for the club, separated Arsenal and Besiktas over the two legs of the play-off and afterwards Arsene Wenger paid tribute to the Chilean striker whose goal seconds before half-time, will earn the Gunners, at the very least, an estimated £25m over the coming months. "He had a good game, not only on the technical side but on the fighting side," said the Arsenal manager. "He was mobile, dangerous and has shown as well he has great fighting spirit, qualities that will be very important in the Premier League."

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Bill Mann is a football correspondent for The Week.co.uk, scouring the world's football press daily for the popular Transfer Talk column.