Arsene Wenger celebrated his 18th year at the Arsenal helm with an impressive 4-1 victory over Turkish giants Galatasaray.
Danny Welbeck grabbed a hat-trick to announce himself on the Gunner scene following his £16million summer move from Manchester United, while fellow new-boy Alexis Sanchez etched himself onto the scoresheet too.
Wojciech Szczesny saw red late on allowing Burak Yilmaz to convert from the penalty spot, but there was no spoiling the night for Welbeck, Wenger or the Gunners who took second spot in Group D following Dortmund’s 3-0 win over Anderlecht.
Welbeck took 22 minutes to poke home an opener before he lifted a similar finish over Fernando Muslera just 8 minutes later. Sanchez then tore through a disorganised Gala back-3 to curl home, leaving Wenger’s men home and dry at the break.
7 minutes after half-time the England striker clipped home his third before Yilmaz converted thanks to Szczesny’s foul.
Ratings
Wojciech Szczesny 5 – Disappointing end for Szczesny who showed why he cannot currently be considered a top class keeper. Would have had a consistent game topped with a clean sheet had he not rushed off his line and fouled Yilmaz, and will now miss vital fixtures. Silly.
Calum Chambers 7 – Chambers has shown that he’s been a great buy from Wenger, even at the hefty price for the youngster. He made 7 clearances tonight with 6 blocks, playing at right-back in yet another show of versatility from the 19-year-old.
Per Mertesacker 6 – as usual Per ruled the air, however was once again exposed for his titanic turning radius which led to Szczesny’s moment of madness. Impressively completed 96% of his passes.
Laurent Koscielny 7 – Won every challenge he made in the air and on the ground in a solid performance from the Frenchman. There’s not many players you would swap him for in his position at the minute, a real class above.
Kieran Gibbs 7 – Faultless performance from the future England left-back. Managed 85% pass completion, only ever missing a pass when going route-1. Pretty much all of his passes up the left channel found a Gunners player.
Mathieu Flamini 7 – Not the worst performance from Flamini who managed 6 interceptions at the heart of the Arsenal midfield. Once again playing in his defensive midfield role, Flamini bossed it well and was not caught on the ball like against Tottenham. Only criticism would be that he lost out in all 3 of his attempted tackles.
Santi Cazorla 7 – Fine display from the Spaniard who’s place was under threat before tonight. Effortlessly completed 11 take-ons, second only to Danny Welbeck, and picked his passes carefully.
Mesut Ozil 6 – Interesting show from Ozil, who looked tired if anything. Only took 3 players on all game – a stat that is reflective of his body language on the pitch. Replaced by Jack Wilshere midway through the second half. Some would say disinterested – but is that just Ozil’s way?
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 7 – So full of energy it’s scary! Replaced by Rosicky after a gut-busting night, in which he provided for Danny Welbeck’s hat-trick goal. His pass-map shows barely any backwards passes, too. Theo Walcott will need to work hard…
Alexis Sanchez 8 – His best game in an Arsenal shirt for sure, and his goal simply oozed the class that personifies him. Dropping the shoulder and curling home just before half-time, Sanchez killed Gala and showed Wenger why he was wrong to leave him out against Spurs. Was unlucky to be replaced by David Ospina wth half an hour remaining, but never stopped running. Pure electricity. I hope that ankle is okay.
Danny Welbeck 9 – What is there to say! The most perfect of games for Welbeck who drew comparisons with King Thierry while slotting home a hat-trick. His 16 take-ons eclipsed any other player on the pitch and it was visible that Welbeck was fired up tonight. Danny Welbeck, he scores when he wants!
SUBS
David Ospina 7 – Wow, from where I was sitting the Colombian ‘keeper looked pretty well impressive. Stopped everything but the penalty just after his introduction, but if that performance is anything to go by then the Gunners are in good hands.
Jack Wilshere 5 – Didn’t make much of an impact when coming off the bench only passing the ball 7 times and making one foul.
Tomas Rosicky 5 – similarly to Wilshere, was only introduced when the tempo of the game was flat.
Arsenal were rampant for about half an hour, and that’s really all it took. It would have been nice to see them go 100mph for the whole game just to get a look at how good they can really be, and maybe even get a few heads up, however it was understandable considering the weekend’s task.
Play like that again and we might have a chance at Stamford Bridge – at least going forward anyway – and let’s hope that the referee brings his glasses this time.
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