Danny Welbeck hit his first senior hat-trick as 10-man Arsenal crushed Galatasaray 4-1 in their Champions League tie at the Emirates.
After an opening round defeat at Borussia Dortmund, and with leaders Chelsea on the horizon, the Gunners responded in the best possible manner - with a largely impressive performance and all three points. Arsenal looked confident in attack and if, and it could be a big if, they can produce the same kind of performance when they return to league action then maybe, just maybe, there is a chance of a shock result at Stamford Bridge. I'm not saying we will get a result, but the confident display we put in against Galatasaray is a huge confidence boost and at least gives us a chance.
Back to the game, and what a game it was for Welbeck and what a way it was for manager Arsene Wenger to mark his 18th anniversary with the club. Arsenal were truly excellent in the first half and, although it fizzled out slightly in the latter stages of the second half, the Gunners were well worth the win that kick-started their Champions League campaign. With Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta likely to be out for nearly a month, Wenger's men needed something positive to cheer about and that is just what they got on an entertaining night in the capital.
As in their previous match against Tottenham, Arsenal were again dominating possession, only this time the hosts were making it count with goals...four well-taken goals!
The Gunners opened the scoring after 22 minutes when Alexis Sanchez played in Welbeck with a perfectly timed pass before the former Manchester United star beat his man and shot through the legs of Fernando Muslera in the Galatasaray goal.
Welbeck doubled his and the London' club's tally on the half hour mark. The 23-year-old- headed the ball on and showed great strength to out-muscle Felipe Melo before calmly slotting the ball beyond Muslera.
Melo can count himself lucky to have even stayed on the pitch after getting away with just a yellow card following a horror two-footed challenge on Sanchez.
Sanchez had the last laugh as he added Arsenal's third four minutes before the break. Mesut Ozil released Sanchez with a perfectly weighted through ball and the Chilean striker curled a lovely shot into the bottom corner to take his Gunners' tally to five goals.
Arsenal continued to dominate proceedings and Welbeck completed his hat-trick within just seven minutes of the restart. The Gunners' summer signing latched onto a pass from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain before lifting the ball over Muslera. It was an all-round fantastic performance from Welbeck and his treble was thoroughly deserved.
The victory was tainted slightly when the Turkish side scored a consolation from the spot after 63 minutes when Gunners goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was dismissed for bring down Burak Yilmaz in the box. David Ospina, who joined Arsenal from Nice over the summer, was picking the ball out of the net with his first touch after Yilmaz had got back up to successfully convert the penalty.
Ospina, who was making just his second appearance for Arsenal, went on to make a few top class saves later in the second half to prevent the Gunners conceding any further goals and can be generally pleased with his display. As for Szczesny it was a silly act of madness and it is just fortunate the game was already over by the time he saw red.
Aside from that one moment, it was a wonderful display by Wenger's men and here's hoping we can produce something similar against Chelsea because you never know what might happen. We managed to bounce back from defeat to Dortmund in style with this 4-1 win, so let's make sure we banish the memory of last season's horror show at Stamford Bridge with something a lot more delightful at the weekend.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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