Arsenal: Szczesny, Chambers, Mertesacker (c), Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Cazorla, Alexis, Welbeck
Subs: Ospina, Coquelin, Bellerin, Rosicky, Wilshere, Campbell, Podolski
—
Arsenal secured their first Champions League win with a convincing 4-1 win over Galatasaray at the Emirates this evening, despite playing the last 25 minutes with 10 men.
After the spate of weekend injuries, Arsene Wenger brought Mathieu Flamini, Santi Cazorla and Alexis back into the the starting line-up, with Jack Wilshere not risked from the off after the ankle knock he suffered against Sp*rs.
After the disappointment of dropping points in the derby at the weekend, Arsenal were looking for a bright start, and a smart Danny Welbeck run forced a couple of early corners and Santi Cazorla saw a shot from distance blocked.
Telles had a good chance for the visitors in the 11th minute, curling a shot wide from inside the box after good build-up play, before Kieran Gibbs, on the end of an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross saw his volley deflected wise. There’s no need for me to tell you the corner came to nothing.
Alexis looked for Welbeck in the 20th minute only for Melo to clear, but soon afterwards the two combined to put the Gunners ahead. The Chilean picked up the ball down the left hand side, played a nice reverse pass to Welbeck who took a touch and prodded it between the keeper’s legs from close range. 1-0.
The former Barcelona man seemed to fancy a goal and after good work with Ozil fired a shot wide, but it was Welbeck who had the eye for the target doubling the lead in the 30th minute. The England international caught Melo out dawdling on a bouncing ball, he headed it forward, held off the defender and finished in Thierry Henry style into the far corner with a side-footed effort. 2-0.
He almost had his hat-trick a couple of minutes later, but his left footed drive from inside the box was saved by the Galatasaray keeper. At the other end Pandev saw a shot saved from close range before the visitors had a lucky escape when Felipe Melo was only shown a yellow card for a disgusting, two-footed tackle on Alexis. It should have been a red, but the referee bottled it.
Alexis exacted his revenge in the best possible way though, with a goal. It began at the back when Mertesacker won a great tackle, fed Ozil in midfield who played the forward into the box. He cut inside and finished into the bottom corner to make it 3-0 to Arsenal.
The game was stopped for a while when the Turkish fans tried to distract from how shit their team were by trying to set fire to the pitch, but Arsenal weren’t distracted and took the three goal lead into the half-time break.
Galatasaray made a half-time change, putting on Altintop for Yekta and reverting to a back four,which saw them more involved in the game forcing a couple of early corners which Arsenal dealt with.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, set free by Alexis, drove into the box but couldn’t find the final ball for Ozil, but moments later he was the provider for the fourth Gunners goal. Arsenal worked it from left to right, the Ox slipped a ball behind the defence and with the keeper onrushing Danny Welbeck dinked it over him from close range for his hat-trick (the first of his career). 4-0.
The Turkish responded with an Altintop shot from distance which flew wide, but were given a vague lifeline when Arsenal were reduced to 10 men. Yilmaz was played through, Szczesny came out, missed the ball and the player ran into him, dived in the air and the referee produced a red card.
Arsene Wenger brought on David Ospina for Alexus, and Yilmaz took the penalty to make it 4-1. Tomas Rosicky replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as Galatasaray looked to get back in the game. Ospina had to make a save from Dzemali but Arsenal still threatened.
Welbeck headed a Cazorla cross over not knowing Rosicky was unmarked just behind him, before Sneijder fired a shot just wide. Jack Wilshere came on to replace Mesut Ozil who left the pitch to a standing ovation because of his performance as the Sky commentators tried to make out that he was poor. Almost as if they had a pre-ordained agenda.
Arsenal had the substitute keeper to thank for keeping the three goal lead, as he made a great save to deny the vistirors. Cazorla lost the ball in midfield, Galatasaray crossed to the back post, Yilmaz headed it at goal but the Colombian hung in the air and pushed the ball away.
He was forced into action again, saving with his legs from Altintop while Danny Welbeck produced a storming run from inside his own half which almost resulted in a clear cut chance – his workrate and energy were so impressive.
Ospina had to save again from Sneijder, getting down well to his near post, while right at the death it was almost 5-1. Cazorla was played in by Wilshere, his first touch was a bit heavy, he dinked it over the keeper but didn’t have enough power to go in before the defender cleared.
In the end though, a comfortable win made a bit uncomfortable due to the red card, but overall a much better performance from Arsenal and a thoroughly deserved three points.
Now for Chelsea.
DAT GUY!
Which one? There were 11 and they are great!
There were 10 🙂 oh actually there were 12. Okay maybe 11. Did Szcz actually do anything? Not sure. He got sent off which wasnt very nice. But that goalie who we did signed from nice is very very good. Very impressive
Maybe 14 if you count the subs.
If we signed the goalie from good – would he be nice?
Now I twig, arsenal are just too good to play with 11 men!
So the ref tends to balance every game we play by reducing our numbers.. Anyone thinks ospina should start vs chelsea?
I like Ospina. He is very calm and his ball distribution is good. He does not make unnecessary mistakes.
Ospina is fucking ace!
Here’s proof: http://youtu.be/Jx3k7gumrqI
Better than WS1 in my opinion.
I second that, and think that Shezza needs some time considering his ball distribution which is woeful. I watched Ospina in the WC and thought he was ace.
He has phenomenal reactions, and, unlike Szcz, he seems to be able to come out and take a ball off an attacker’s feet without fouling him.
His major weakness is his tendency to parry and push balls rather than catching them.
Basically he’s a quite different sort of keeper to Szcz. Szcz is big and commanding and arrogant and sometimes a little too full of himself. Ospina is a small (relatively speaking) acrobatic keeper with phenomenal reactions but he’s not as commanding and imposing a figure on corners and that sort of thing.
I noticed today that Ospina seems to have pretty accurate kicks when the ball is in his hands. He is also happy to get the defence cleared out before distributing which is something Szcz isn’t great at.
We might not have got much value out of it today but perhaps with Giroud to aim at and bring the ball down when he returns, a plan B might be waiting to be unleashed when required.
Pre-red card our defence looked a lot more senisble (athough it wasn’t bad after).
We stopped rushing up on players and leaving space in behind, and when space was left behind, somebody was always dropping in to cover it.
I get the feeling Flamini’s orders to sit deep had been much stricter from Wenger, and his only error came when he went up the pitch and made a bad tackle, as is his wont.
The Ox….How good is he getting? Keep it up son.
That front three were like lightning. Walcott back soon….I swoon.
Danny Boy is STRONG….VVVERRRY SSTRONG! COYG!
This is the Arsenal performance I’ve been waiting for this season. To be frank , Giroud would not have finished any of the Welback goals today.
This is obviously wrong. Maybe Giroud wouldn’t have got these kinds of chances but he could’ve banged them all in…but he’s another kind of striker and you have to appreciate them both as Goalscorers and Creators. Welbeck is creating more for himself, Giroud is creating more for the team. But I like them both! Giroud is handsome and a nice guy and Welbz is black and a nice guy. Seriously, I don’t know who I should like more!
If you’d quit after “both” that would’ve just been great
In all honesty, that was funny as shit, doesn’t matter if he meant it or not.
Danny is also very handsome…
n-no homo.
It is really cheap and unnecessary to bring Giroud into this, as you have no fucking idea if he’d have finished a couple. One thing is sure however, he will have a fight on his hands, and I’m glad for that all around.
Why is it necessary to make that comparison? Why not just be happy that Welbeck scored a great hat-trick without the negative angle?!
Loudest Emirates crowd in yeeeeears.
I was loving the North Bank vs Clock End, really loud too!!
Its great to see the Home fans making some noise, great to have the 12th man back 😉
good all round display
Apparently he is the only player to have scored a hat trick in this years UCL!
Just love the way he gets inbehind the defenders, something I was frustrated about with giroud.
Nah that’s not quite right, Brahimi and one other player also has a hattrick if I’m not mistaken… Still, we know he’s gonna get far more hattricks in the UCL than Shrek or van pursetsrings this year 😉
It’s just a 90 minutes training session before destroying the blues..
London is Red..
B|
What are the odds for another hat trick against chelsea?
The odds are, well….beck.
I laughed harder than i should have…
59/1 on playnow.com
79/1 on bettson.com
80/1 on paddypower.com
You truly live up to your name
Great game! Fantastic play from Danny boy and super Sanchez. Luckily the terrible refereeing didn’t ruin the match completely.
Did I just watch TH14 disguised as Welbeck. Massive game by Welbeck. Santi was simply a joy to watch.
or more like Welbeck as TH14
Thank you Louis Van Gaal
Lets all laugh at Man U
Falcoa 3 appearances – 0 Goals
Welbeck 5 appearances – 4 Goals
Yeah LVG he’s not that clinical at all
HO Ho Ho
Oh Danny boy…*swoon*
Danny Welbeck second best player in the world. First is Ramsey obviously.
I “4-1” think it was Dannys night…
FUCK IT I’m too happy to be getting any damn coat!!
Great stuff.
Same team and set up against the Chavs please.
Wont you think that JM have prepared his team accordingly after this match? He might be arrogant, and loathsome, but he is the definition of reactive tactician.. If we go the same style, he would have setup his team to counter it.
Hey, that was fun. Özil really looks so much better playing centrally.
Will he play ozil there against the chavs or shoot himself in the foot by playing him out of position – probably the latter knowing Wenger hence I ain’t looking forward to Sunday
You got the score right again. Great prediction.
Boys had a great game, pretty odious refereeing if you ask me, it should have been 11 v 10 long ago before WS1 got sent off.
Good result and great display by the front three. Pundits really piss me off moaning about Ozil. I wish they would stop trying to speak for Arsenal fans. Ozil is a great player, he is never going to tear around the pitch, that is not his style, he just quietly gets on with controlling the game. Bring on those low rent chavs!
Were they really criticising Ozil today? He was bloody brilliant.
Just when I think they can’t sink any lower. *sigh*
There was one change of feet that just oozed class, and some superb passes. His languid style makes him easy prey for the pundit muppetts, but anyone other than a booze soaked hack can see he drips with class. World class!
I agree. Just love Özil´s smoothness with the ball. And his fine touch on the pass. Perfect! Needs to go a bit stronger into contacts though.
The Ozil bashing commentary made what was a thoroughly enjoyable match slightly less thoroughly enjoyable.
Who hires these people?
Watch the stream in French. If you can understand it it’s great, you get to hear a strongly biased account in favour of Arsene and Arsenal in general, and if you can’t it’s great, you don’t have to listen to bored, boring, near-to-death-at-any-moment English ‘commentators’ and ‘pundits’ always criticising Arsenal.
Aller de l’Arsenal!
after so many years we got a fucking striker at long last! well done to the boys and danny th14 welbeck!
great win! much more fluid display as a result of a much more fluid formation! If it would take wilshere sitting on the bench for ozil to play in the middle, so be it! Keep it up lads….That guy welbz! Sczczeny needs his head checked! Time to give him a wake up call, give Ospina a run in the side.
He had no choice but to come out. Defense was beat. I for one think that those should not be automatic red when the striker obviously plays it out and the keeper’s intent is obviously on the ball but just missed. PK, fine. But just a yellow unless he’s taking the player out and the ball is in play.
He had a choice, he made the wrong one. If it’s a choice between giving away a goal and giving away a goal and losing a man, it’s no choice anyway.
It’s an error, but one every keeper makes and hopefully he learns something from it.
That was the best striker performance by anyone in red and white since that dutch cunt against the spurs 5-2. Welbeck is ours!
You have 52 thumbs up right now and it’s just so perfect I don’t want anyone else to like it… Including me.
Much, much better! Gala are shit. Fuck off back to Turkey you cheating cunts.
This is quite abusive and aggressive and may I suggest almost bordering on xenophobia? We can praise our team without denigrating the other
This is football not the UN
I see “HENRY” in WELBECK *sheds a tear of JOY*
Bejesus what sort of porn have you been looking at!
OOOOOOOSPINA!!!
I take my hat off to Welbeck..Fucking exceptional today. I love Giroud for what he does but having Pace up front again *tears
Tim from 7amkickoff won’t be pleased to see this comment
This arsenal team is great when Wilshere and Ramsey aren’t in the 1st eleven.
Not hatin’, just sayin’
Ozick isn’t even a word wtf
Oh wow I’ve had such a mare. Ignore me please. I’m not drunk but I can pretend to be, Dean Martin style
Ozil is ours. Yes he is. And I love him.
Ozick is ours. Still blows my mind
Fuck you ipad. Fuck you
Ozil + Welbeck = Ozick?
Maybe not the first player that will come to mind but gibbs was outstanding tonight i thought.
I was thinking he must be Arsenals fastest player, some of his defensive recoveries were outstanding
when he passed it around their right back to himself. loved that. left him for dead.
Yup one piece of defending stood out in particular at the end, when he managed to get the ball off two players in our corner, and pass it to safety.
Chambers looked really good too.
…and he didn’t pick up is now customary yellow card!
Another quietly excellent game from England’s best left back.
He scores when he wants
He scores when he waaaaannnntttssss
DANNY WELBECK
He scores when he wants!
Get in!
Perfect result to build confidendce before Chelski.
Great display by Welbeck, Ozil and Alexis! But Szczesny needs to stop getting sent off and leaving us down a man. At least Ospina gets some time to shine for the next three CL games! COYG!!!
What is Sczes supposed to do? There are simply too many dicks like that Ducth bloke playing for Bayern, and too many dimwit refs falling for the ruse. Do not fault Szes for doing what he is supposed to do.
take off the blinders bruh…..it was a red card, and not for the 1st time either. His decision making in those situations & distribution hurt us so much more than people admit. Just hope people start to realize it now that Ospina is (hopefully) our 1st-choice now.
Red card for a professional foul is a one game ban.
I thought Santi Cazorla was superb aswel. Thought he was the best player other than Welbeck today.. Completely controlled the game from deep..Even more admirable because he is so small. Kept us ticking today.
Best performance this season.
Deserved a goal !! It was like the ball just stopped after he dinked it over the keeper. I was like physics, what are you doing!!
Yep. I agree completely. I’ve been thinking about who Wilshere is supposed to come in for, but after that performance I think Ozil – Cazorla – Flamini deserve to start in the middle against Chelsea.
If Only we had that Mythical strong Mobile Holding Midfielder who could pass. The Wonders it would do for this team.
Diaby?
Good Lord Blogs, this was posted at Theo-like speed!
Anyway, thoroughly pleased with the result. Hattrick for Danny, good defensive performance (bar the goal, which wasn’t really the defense’s fault). I have a question though; Szcz’s red card, was it warranted or not? Bias aside now. Some say yes, some say no, but as somebody who didn’t watch the game and will probably only see the highlights in the morning, I’m curious to know now.
Yes, unfortunately it was warranted. However, Melo’s shocking tackle on Alexis in the first half should also have brought a straight red. You can’t get a more clear-cut definition of serious foul play than that. If the ref gets that right, we’re winning about 8-0 and Szczesny stays on the pitch because Galafuckarat would never get out of their own half.
Agree, two footed tackle, off his feet in the air. Straight red. Not even a question about it, clear as daylight. Could’ve broken Sanchez’s ankle!!
And UEFA charge us for “letting” bellend away fans throw flares about.
Priceless….
Yeah, it’s the sort of decision so bad you really have to wonder about the ref’s qualifications to be in the CL. You can’t fail a test like that. It’s not fair to the players to expose them to that sort of tackle and not be taking serious action.
And now thanks to his total bottling, I don’t think they can even ban Melo for another 3 games since the ref saw the tackle and decided it wans’t worth a red.
By the definition, unfortunately yes.
In my opinion when the striker kicks the ball away (out of touch in a manner he never would have gotten to no less) to draw the foul and the keeper is so obviously going for the ball but it is a split second, a PK and yellow is sufficient. Red when the ball is there to be played still and / or the keeper is clearly playing the man or dangerous. but we all know the relationship between common sense and reality.
Great work, job well done!!!
One problem though, game is over and dusted and Wenger still sends in Jack Wilshere… WHHHHHYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! When he is still recovering and always injured. I tell you Wenger really don’t trust his squad or doesn’t want the other players to show they deserve a chance too. Lol!!!
Gunners for life!!!! Dont matter what the fickle fans say.
Ramsey was rested and he still got injured. Wenger is not a retard. Stop it.
Point is, was there any sense in risking him before the Chelski match? No. Coquelin could have done a shift defending out the match.
Don’t care what the fickle fans say? How ironic, reading your post.
For all of the criticism of the last few games, i thought the performances against City, Villa and Spurs were really good with a poor Dortmund performance in between admittedly. Expected the team to click into gear and found the criticism a bit surprising (criticism from usually reasonable quarters). And we did, today. Welbeck looks – top class. He does. Pace power movement technique and work-rate.
I think we have a system that we’re learning and we’ll be frightening going forward, going forward. A CDM and a defensive cover are needed, mark my words, but that apart we’re set.
What a game from all the boys. To me, this was probably the most acomplished performance of the season so far. I give a 10 to everybody, starters and subs
Blown away by Sanchez and Welbeck. Arsene gets a lot of stick, but credit for 2 great signings.
3. Chambers.
Very good game by Arsenal!! Fast fluid attacking football and if not for the red card we could have scored more. 4 things that I would to point out…
– Welbeck our new King14Henry
-Ox our new Overmars roadrunner
-Ospina our new #1 goalkeeper (I feel more safe with him on goal)
-Lastly we should be getting a DM like Felipe Melo(tall, composed, skill and good passer of the ball (short & long)
Thumb down for the Melo remark. Melo’s a cunt. We looked at him a couple years ago and quite rightly decided he’d be a liability. Averages three to five red cards a season. Just ask Alexis what he thinks of the bastard.
That said, I wouldn’t say no to a good powerful DM. Just not one who’s a cunt.
Here here. I’m not cheering for any fuck that tackles like that. Flamini irritates me with some of his. His Yellow was daft and unnecessary today.
We need a DM who stays on his feet. We already have Flamini if we want a DM who tries to get himself sent off every match.
Thankfully, we didn’t lack little bit mental toughness in this match. A dodgy referee, flares, and some nasty tackles have undone us in past games, but not this one. Here’s hoping this is the start of our players really clicking together and giving Chelski some real trouble.
Thats what happens when we play the game at pace instead of Wilshire and Ramsay slowing the game down
This this this and more this. Wilshere/Ramsey is like Lampard/Gerrard. Can’t play together.
I thought they both played against City, and we outplayed them for much of the match.
Great performance. Glad to see the Alexis, Welbeck, Ox front 3 backed by Özil in the middle. We’ve been screaming for this for I don’t know how long. As for Szczesny’s red, we’ll manage against Anderlecht with Ospina, who put in a good performance.
Love Szcz but I think Ospina may finish the year as first choice
Danny welbeck is a gooooner
Who said Welbeck was a bad finisher?
I think the bloke’s name was Luis..Gaal or something.
Luix the Gaul?
Some idiot who manages a mid-table side.
Welbeck just gave a Strikers masterclass. Hat trick (3 very good finishes). Held the ball up..Won headers. Showed pace, power and trickery. The ability to create for himself and be an outlet.
Skys the limit if he keeps improving.
Sanchez and the Ox where constant threats aswel. Very direct and purposeful in their movements.
And Welbeck also made a couple of good defensive headers. A complete player.
Fucking uncultured paleotithic arseholes throwing flares on the pitch
Absolutely pathetic lot of knuckledraggers. Hope we will see some action from UEFA on that. Specifically, they should have to play the return match against us with doors closed, or away fans only. Or, they should not be allowed to bring visiting fans to their remaining two away fixtures. Or all of the above.
I hope Arsenal bills them for the pitch repairs.
We will definitely see action from the FA.
Arsene will get a 3 match ban 😉
oops, UEFA
That f@cked that up….
And from his glorious perch at the magnificent peaks of Machu Picchu did the benevolent and wise Inca Sun God Inti bestow upon the loyal Children of the Sun, the all- powerful Inca Warrior god ALEXIS, He of the Steel Ankles!!
And Alexis did reign down Awesome displays of Awesomeness upon the unsuspecting and ill-prepared opponents…And he did imbue his followers with the will and skill to over-run the hapless resistance…And lo, he did bear witness to the ascension of a mere mortal man known as Welbeck into the realms of some higher dimensions…as the story continues to unfurl..
Don’t mean to rain on your parade pal, but Alexis is Chilean not Peruvian.
Chile was in the heart of Inca nation friend…
While it is true that the Incas conquered large parts of what is now Chile, having Alexis connected to Machu Pichu grinds the ears like having Alisher Usmanov as your wife. Just saying.
Now mister Beagleboy, don’t make me stoop to pedantry…but let me remind my esteemed inquisitor that a God sitting atop the mighty Andes Mountain range in a beautiful golden city like Machu Picchu, absolutely DOES NOT care if he is in the manmade confines of the artificially designated borders of the “country” of Peru when he decides to unleash a new Inca Warrior God…he also doesn’t care if this new IWG is Chilean or not…according to my sources, he believes thats up to silly humans to discuss and argue over!
@ n a c: Thumbs up for the effort 🙂
Death of the dummy joke that was a Henryesque performance Welbz is the guy…
Oh Danny we love it we love it we love it ohhhwoahhhhwoahhhh.
On topic – very positive display from the lads despite injury concerns. I’m genuinely happy for Welbeck getting a hat trick and hopefully he can keep this up!
Super team performance tonight. Wellbeck was on fire. Outstanding display. Fantastic application. DW showed sparkles of a TH tonight. (In your face LvG)
The ref was useless as tits on a bull. If a goalkeeper is not allowd to defend his sticks then there is not much point in having one, is there? Also the Melo tackle was nasty as John Terry’s underpants – a vile two footed lunge for which he should have been send off immediately.
On a different note I’m a bit cautious of getting a kebab tonight after I’ve been at the pub watching the game in my Arsenal top
They might stick a flare in it!!!
Not sure how much of that result is gala being poo ( on the pitch and in the stands ) but I want to see that same XI against chelski and find out!
They always use the excuse of_._._._ being poo when we take a side apart like tonight.
Its never a case of us being so good that their defense has no idea how to cope with the threats coming from everywhere, and that we make them look poo.
Now now, stop with the ridiculous comparing of Welbeck with the King. Yes Welbeck was awesome tonight but a hattrick one game does not a King make. Perspective guys. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed his performance and of course Santi and Alexis. COYG!!
Some dutch fool said it lol
Oh yea..Fuck those cunts and there shite flares. Trying to burn our beautiful pitch.
Look what happens when we play with the handbrake off!
We…suddenly….play…fast! OMG! Awesomeness abounds! 😉
A team performance most importantly, but Gibbs, Chambers, Welbeck, and especially Cazorla outstanding – he’s so important to the way we want to play.
We won! We won! Weeee wooooon! Wele!
For a CB who is said played CM too, Chambers played really well at RB.