MOTD: Arsenal 4-1 Galatasaray

By on October 1, 2014

It was the type of performance from Alexis Sanchez that made you wonder how in the world he was dropped from the starting lineup for the North London derby last weekend. Sanchez terrorized Galatasaray’s back three, poorly set up by Cesare Prandelli, scoring one and setting another goal up. Wesley Sneijder seemed to be the only one keeping the ship afloat for Galatasaray for the majority of the match, from getting back to defender to stopping their fans from setting the pitch alight with flares.

However, Arsene Wenger will be refrained from questioning for the moment, due to not only Sanchez’s but his entire tram’s performance. Danny Welbeck not only bagged his first Champions League goal in an Arsenal shirt, but went onto score two more to score his first hat-trick for The Gunners. His finishing, for the most part, was superb, and his runs in behind the three-man Galatasaray defense, which lead to two of his three goals, perfectly complimentary with Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. It was a much better result for Wenger on the eighteenth anniversary of his appointment as Arsenal manager than in his disastrous loss to Chelsea in his 1000th match in charge, to say the least.

Their visitors were hardly bad at the start, especially up front as Alex Telles came close with a curling effort, however their back-three was hounded by Arsenal. Prandelli neglected to change his formation, and twenty-two minutes in Alexis Sanchez broke down the left, ran at his marker, cut inside and slipped a brilliant ball in behind Felipe Melo into the even better run of Welbeck. The Englishman almost, almost, seemed to waste the chance by overrunning the ball, but got ahead of Melo to poke a low finish through the legs of Fernando Muslera and into the back of the net. Muslera’s goalkeeping was questionable, but hardly the source of the problem for Galatasaray. It was that back-three, which just seven minutes later let the floodgates further open as Aurelein Chedjou was caught out. The center-back was pulled too far up and the ball ran in behind him, and while Melo was still there Welbeck muscled him off as well before curling a shot around Muslera into the bottom-right corner. It was all too easy for Arsenal up front – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was having a field day down the right wing as well.

Thirty-three minutes in Welbeck really should have had a hat-trick, only to somehow send Santi Cazorla’s lay-off just fifteen yards out straight at Muslara with a tame shot. But Galatasaray were obviously frustrated, with Melo stupidly taking out Sanchez via a studs-up, two footed high challenge, before the visiting fans threw multiple lit flares onto the pitch. Melo was lucky to get away with yellow but Galatasaray will most definitely be dealt a more severe punishment for the actions of their fans. Their actions were only to the glee of Arsenal fans, though, who were only out to taunt Gala fans more as Sanchez grabbed their third goal on the brink of the half. Ozil was given way to much time to turn on the ball, and made Galatasaray pay by slipping an inch-perfect ball into the run of Sanchez down the left. The Chilean winger tucked a neat finish past Muslera to all but put the game to bed.

Wenger’s men continued their domination on the other side of the half, and as Gala seemed to give up Welbeck provided Arsenal’s fourth goal by dinking a wonderful little chip over Muslera after running onto Chamberlain’s through ball. The only downside of the night for Wenger came as Wojciech Szczesny got himself sent of halfway through the second period by taking down Yilmaz, and while the forward would also convert the penalty Arsenal proved they could defend as well, sitting back to preserve their lead.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.