Arsenal ignited their Champions League campaign with a 4-1 thrashing of a feeble Galatasaray side on Wednesday with Danny Welbeck grabbing a hat-trick in a largely one-sided Group D clash in north London. Galatasaray had never won in nine previous visits to England, and once Welbeck had punished them twice in the first half-hour their resistance crumbled, with Alexis Sanchez ending the match as a contest with Arsenal's third goal before half-time. Welbeck completed his hat-trick shortly after the break and the only blot on Arsenal's copybook was a needless red card for goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who rashly brought down Burak Yilmaz, who tucked away the resulting spot kick. After their opening-night loss to Borussia Dortmund, victory lifted Arsenal into second place behind the German club with three points. Galatasaray and Anderlecht have one point apiece. Galatasaray's supporters showed plenty of passion at The Emirates, keeping up a cacophony of sound for most of the first half and launching numerous flares on to the pitch. Their team, however, were harmless, providing the perfect opposition for an injury-hit Arsenal side that badly needed a win after a 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund a fortnight ago. They did have the first chance of the night, when Brazilian Alex Telles did well down the left and played a clever one-two with Blerim Dzemaili before pulling a shot wide. Though on the 18th anniversary of Arsene Wenger becoming manager, it was mainly all Arsenal. After a brief lull, the home side went in front when the impressive Welbeck curved his run to meet a slide-rule Sanchez pass and planted his shot through the legs of Fernando Muslera. After 31 minutes Welbeck held off a flimsy challenge from Felipe Melo to bound clear and slot his shot past Muslera. That sparked the Gala fans into starting their own firework display in the corner where they were wedged, at least five red flares landing on the playing surface causing the game to be temporaily halted as skipper Wesley Sneijder appealed for calm. Once the smoke cleared Arsenal continued to reduce the Turkish defence to ash. Mesut Ozil had time to pick a pass and did so with panache, setting Chilean Sanchez free to make it 3-0. It took Welbeck only seven minutes after the break to complete his first senior club hat-trick, finishing off a flowing passing move with a deft flick after a clever pass by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. A runaway Arsenal display was checked in unlikely circumstances on the hour when Szczesny rushed off his line and took out Yilmaz, giving referee Gianluca Rocchi little option but to send the Pole off. After Sanchez was substituted to make way for Arsenal's replacement keeper David Ospina, much to his annoyance, Yilmaz converted the penalty. With 10-man Arsenal saving their legs for Sunday's Premier League trip to Chelsea, Galatasaray finally woke up and Sneijder went close to pulling another goal back for the visitors with a shot that flashed past the post. Yilmaz also forced a flying save from Ospina but it was all too little too late for Cesare Prandelli's side. (For more sports news and updates, follow AhramOnline Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/112198.aspx
