Gunners fire blanks

The last seven days have seen a demoralising draw against Tottenham, defeat at Stoke and now a Champions League stalemate despite creating the best chances at the Emirates Stadium.

Robin van Persie came closest for the hosts when he struck the crossbar before the break.

Roberto Carlos' tame clearance early on landed straight at the feet of midfielder Aaron Ramsey who played a square ball to the unmarked Cesc Fabregas.

The Spaniard lofted a sweet pass into the box and Van Persie timed his run to perfection only to see his prodded shot slip inches wide of the right post.

Ramsey, making his first start in the group stage of the Champions League, was showing no sign of nerves as he eased into the box only to find the arms of Volkan Demirel.

Van Persie then let another chance go begging, drilling the ball into the ground and over the crossbar after Volkan got fingertips to a Fabregas lob.

Arsenal showed far greater invention in attack but still had nothing to show for their obvious superiority during the first half. Kolo Toure, playing at right-back, created space for Van Persie who brilliantly turned Diego Lugano inside-out before seeing his shot from point-blank range pushed onto the crossbar by Volkan.

A swift counter-attack by Fenerbahce shortly after the interval saw Lukasz Fabianski come to the rescue by nudging Ugur Boral's low strike wide of the right post.

Van Persie nodded a superb opportunity over the crossbar but chances arrived less frequently as Arsenal began to run out of ideas, their play frustrated by a Fenerbahce rearguard that knew it had successfully dealt with their opponents' best efforts.