Crvena zvezda fought bravely against Arsenal, attacked and created chances, but were undone by a late Olivier Giroud strike.
Ground: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Benoit Bastien (France)
Goalscorer: Giroud 85'
Teams:
Crvena zvezda: Borjan, Stojković, Le Tallec, Savić, Rodić, Donald, Krstičić, Kanga, Radonjić, Srnić, Boakye.
Substitutes: Supić, Gobeljić, Babić, Račić, Milijaš, Adžić, Pešić.
Arsenal: Čech, Debuchy, El Neny, Holding, Coquelin, Willock, Nelson, Maitland-Niles, Wilshere, Walcott, Giroud.
Substitutes: Macey, Osei-Tutu, Akpom, Da Silva, McGuane, Nketiah, Sheaf.
Vladan Milojević fielded an attacking-minded side to face Arsène Wenger's team. And the red-and-whites created a few good chances. The visitors had to rely on experienced goalkeeper Peter Čech to save them and the Czech international produced a double save from Nemanja Radonjić on 31 minutes. Five minutes earlier Richmond Boakye headed against the crossbar from a good position.
Crvena zvezda players should be proud as they put one of the strongest sides in the competition under a lot of pressure. But Arsenal's quality and experience shone through and they did just enough to survive Zvezda's attacks.
Second half kicked off with Serbian team still searching for the opening goal. Slavoljub Srnić was left in a good position to shoot after a defensive mix-up by the Gunners, but Peter Čech once again saved his team with a crucial stop.
Key moment of the match was probably an 80th-minute incident when Milan Rodić was sent off after being shown second yellow card. It was probably too harsh on the defender, but he was off and Zvezda were left with ten men with ten minutes remaining.
Arsenal produced a moment of class with five minutes to go when French striker Olivier Giroud finished off a nice move with an overhead kick that sailed past Borjan and into the side-netting. The away fans celebrated, but there was still time for Zvezda to try and level. Kanga was full of running as red-and-whites rallied to try and find an equalizer, but Arsenal held on to claim an important victory.
It was a great match in Belgrade which Crvena zvezda didn't deserve to lose, but, as Head Coach Vladan Milojević pointed out, experience plays an important role in these matches and our team gained a lot of it this evening.
Credit to Crvena zvezda players and staff who fought bravely for the shirt. There are still three matches to play and try to qualify for the knock-out stage of the Europa League.