London, Nov 2: Arsenal was held to a 0-0 draw by Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday, missing out on a chance to secure early advancement into the knockout stage from Group F.
Arsenal would have reached the next round with two games to spare with a victory at Emirates Stadium, but struggled to create dangerous chances against a French side that often threatened on counterattacks.
Arsenal still leads the group with eight points and Marseille is in second with seven points.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger opted to rest Robin van Persie after his hat trick in a 5-3 win against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, but the Dutch striker came on as a substitute with just under 30 minutes to go for the ineffective Park Ju-young.
Van Persie had a chance to score in the 77th minute when a pass from Tomas Rosicky split open Marseille's defense, but the Netherlands striker's attempted chip was collected by goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
Van Persie “had a great chance when he came on,” Wenger said. “But you cannot just say that one player can make the difference. We were not the sharpest tonight. Marseille started stronger than us.”
Arsenal, which beat Marseille 1-0 in France two weeks ago to take control of their group, remains unbeaten at Emirates in Champions League action since the 2008-09 semifinals.
Arsenal hosts Dortmund in the next group match on Nov. 23, when Marseille hosts Olympiakos.
Both Arsenal and Marseille came out attacking in the first half and had a number of efforts on goal.
Marseille nearly opened the scoring in the first minute, but Jordan Ayew's backheel flick went just wide of the near post after the forward met a cross from the left. His brother Andre Ayew also came close in the fifth, but his effort also flashed wide of the near post after a cross from the right.
Theo Walcott had Arsenal's first chance in the 10th, when his run down the right was too quick for Marseille's defense. Walcott unleashed a shot from about 20 yards, but it was pushed out for a corner.
Arsenal continued to threaten, with Aaron Ramsey narrowly missing the target at the far post after an inviting cross from the left from Andre Santos in the 22nd.
Loic Remy's effort for Marseille in the 24th went just wide of the back post. Five minutes later, Arsenal forward Gervinho's fierce shot was palmed away to Walcott in front of goal, but neither he nor Park could manage a follow-up.
“I thought we had opportunities to kill the game,” Wenger said. “The positive is that we didn't concede a goal. Marseille had one shot on target. We know that in the final third, we can do better.”
A few minutes after halftime, Mikel Arteta swung in a free kick and Per Mertesacker directed it toward goal, but Thomas Vermaelen's header was off target. In the 53rd, Andre Ayew sliced a shot wide for Marseilles.
Van Persie then had his chance to be Arsenal's savior again, but couldn't find his scoring touch this time.
“It's a good point away,” Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said through an interpreter. “At some points during the game, we had the feeling we could win it.”
Deschamps said his team has a good chance to qualify since its next opponent Olympiakos lost 1-0 to Dortmund on Tuesday, with the Greek team now bottom of Group F with three points and the German club just above with four.
“I am happy with the team performance. During the whole game, we had four forward players and they had a lot of efforts,” he said. “Let's keep on playing that way. It was really nice to show such football against such a strong and confident team as Arsenal.”
