Arsenal history was made yesterday, as last night’s match marked Arsene Wenger’s 18th year in charge of the club. To the relief of Gooners around the globe, the team rose to the occasion, drubbing Galatasaray an impressive 4 goals to 1. After a promising start, the scoring was opened by Danny Welbeck in the 22nd minute, when the Englishman was played in behind the defense by an Alexis Sanchez reverse pass. The striker made no mistake, calmly slotting the ball through Fernando Muslera’s legs. In the 30th minute, he managed to double the Arsenal advantage and score his 2nd of the night. Aurelien Chedjou’s sloppy header allowed Welbeck in behind the defense, who shrugged off a red faced Melo with ease and curled the ball around an onrushing Muslera. The next 10 minutes marked a physical onslaught by the thuggish Galatsaray players, culminating with a two footed Felipe Melo challenge on Alexis that really should have resulted in a red card. Regardless, Alexis virtually iced the game in the 41st minute, latching on to a perfectly placed Mesut Özil through ball before cutting inside to beat Chedjou and curling it into the far corner. Arsenal entered the dressing rooms 5 minutes later knowing their work for the night was all but done.
The Gunners good fortunes continued at the beginning of the second half. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s through ball to Danny Welbeck left him one on one with Muslera, enabling him to pull of his trademark dink over the keeper and complete his hat trick. Arsenal threatened a few more times after, however Galatasaray were handed a glimmer of hope when Szczesny conceded a penalty and was sent off following a rash challenge on Burak Yilmaz. The Turk showed nerves of steel, and calmly slotted the ball past newly introduced keeper David Ospina. Galatasaray would threaten a few times, lead mostly by Dutch talisman Wesley Sneijder, however the Gunners held firm. They even nearly managed a 5th goal when Santi Cazorla’s chip was cleared off the line. The final whistle marked a monumental day in Arsenal history, and a sign that their season may very well be back on track.
Overall, last night was a night to remember for Arsenal. In addition to marking Wenger’s big day with a colossal victory, they managed to hand out their first drubbing in ages. Even when they’ve won this season, most of their victories have come through last ditch goals and sloppy displays. Last night however, was completely different. The Gunners managed to wrap the match up early, pushing their Champions League campaign back on track and giving Galatasaray no chance to re-enter the affair. From Welbeck’s hat trick to the defense’s virtually flawless display, the positives to take from this match are endless.
Wojciech Szczesny – 5/10: The Pole had very little to do throughout the match, but halted Arsenal’s progress with a poorly timed red card.
Calum Chambers – 7/10: The Englishmen plays with an aura of one well beyond the age of 19, and last night was no exception. He looked comfortable filling in for the injured Mathieu Debuchy at RB, and bombed forward well in the attack.
Per Mertesacker – 7/10: The German looked his usual composed self, however his lack of pace was evident during the tail end of the 2nd half.
Laurent Koscielny – 8/10: A thoroughly dominant performance by the Frenchman. Koscielny broke up play, dominated the Galatasaray forwards and even helped start multiple Arsenal attacks.
Kieran Gibbs – 8/10: Top drawer performances from the English LB are becoming the norm at this stage. Gibbs was superb, meshing devastating attacking with solid defending to perfection. Hodgson would be well to call him up at some point this season.
Mathieu Flamini – 6/10: A solid performance from the midfield destroyer. Flamini broke up play and shielded the back 4 well, which is essentially the full extent of his job.
Santi Cazorla – 7/10: The diminutive Spaniard was forced into an emergency central midfield role, and rose well to the task. Cazorla moved the ball quickly, created multiple chances, and almost scored a goal of his own. He wasn’t quite as careful on the ball as a deep lying playmaker should be, but that’s expected from a player who’s spent most of his career as an attacking midfielder.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7/10: “The Ox” rarely seems to get the playing time he deserves, but he always impresses whenever given the opportunity. He proved this yesterday, acting as a constant thorn in the Galatasaray defense’s side. Chamberlain’s skill and directness is something that’s become rarity in recent Arsenal teams, and his contribution of such was a breath of fresh air. His assist to Welbeck was very well placed.
Mesut Özil – 8/10: Played in his preferred number 10 role for only the 2nd time this season, the German superstar was unsurprisingly brilliant. His constant movement and interchanging was a major reason for yesterday’s fluid play, and his pinpoint assist to Alexis was absolutely superb. His recent run of top form is a great sign for Arsenal.
Alexis Sanchez – 9/10: The Chilean once again proved himself as a masterstroke signing, tearing Galatasaray to shreds before being sacrificed for David Ospina. His constant trickery left the Turks in shambles, and his goal and assist were both extremely well taken. It seemed Galatasaray spent much of the match targeting him with poor challenges, however he managed to overcome this and contribute what Arsene Wenger described as “his best performance in an Arsenal shirt so far.”
Danny Welbeck – 10/10: While every player performed admirably last night, the bright spot was far and away new striker Danny Welbeck. The Englishman was superb, tallying Arsenal’s first Champions League hat trick since 2010 and harrying the Galatasaray defense with his pace and work rate. All three of his goals were extremely well taken, and possessed a, dare I say it, a Thierry Henry-esque style to them. Arsene Wenger is known for unearthing unpolished gems, and it looks like he may have done so again with Danny Welbeck.
