Gunners battle to crucial point

Arsene Wenger's 100th match in elite level European club football was hardly a classic, in fact at times it was as unappetising as the wintry Prague weather.

However, football remains a results business and the point was enough to see Arsenal through from Group H, which they can top with victory in Sevilla later this month.

The Arsenal manager elected to leave key man and 11-goal midfielder Cesc Fabregas back in England, along with Belorussian Alexander Hleb.

After a bright start, the match dropped in tempo as both teams were careless in possession and failed to spring the offside trap.

As the half-hour mark passed, slowly the home side settled into a rhythm, which often had Arsenal on the back foot.

When Arsenal did break down the right through Theo Walcott, his final delivery towards Nicklas Bendtner in the middle was poor and failed to clear the first defender.

On 36 minutes, Zdenek Senkerik capitalised on a slip by William Gallas to get in on the right side of the Arsenal penalty area, however, his angled shot-on-the-turn was tipped over by goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.

The hosts felt they had a strong penalty claim on 50 minutes when Zdenek Senkerik went tumbling under pressure from Lassana Diarra, but the referee waved away appeals which television replays suggested was a sound call.

However, on 75 minutes, substitute David Kalivoda sent a long pass forwards, which caught the Arsenal defence flat-footed. Senkerik was being chased down by Gallas as he ran into the area, where Almunia came out quickly to make a crucial save.