Arsenal Embrace Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez's Direct Style to Cruise to Gala Victory

EMIRATES STADIUM, LONDON — Arsenal snapped back to winning ways in style on Wednesday evening, with Danny Welbeck rising to the occasion and bagging a sensational hat-trick in a 4-1 win.

Arsenal's dominance came in patches, but they scored while they were on top and, bar a flat period early in the first half, looked irresistible for much of the contest.

Galatasaray manager Cesare Prandelli made some bizarre decisions to hand the Gunners the advantage—Wesley Sneijder in a regista-esque role and Felipe Melo at centre-back chief among them—but as poor as the Turkish outfit were, you got the feeling that this was peak Arsenal.

Coming into the game with just one win in their last six games, a drubbing from Borussia Dortmund still fresh in the mind and barely a midfield to speak of, expectations were fairly low despite the strong XI fielded.

The teamsheet read Mesut Ozil back in the No. 10 role, Alexis Sanchez from the left and Welbeck leading the line. The feeling pre-game was if that was accurate, the Gunners would fly; reverting to the 4-2-3-1 has been needed since, arguably, the second or third game of the Premier League season.

It happened, and Arsenal took off.

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Arsene Wenger's men probed the various areas of the pitch before settling on the left-hand channel. Alexis and Welbeck began galloping into the chasm left between Aurelien Chedjou and "right-wing-back" Veysel Sari, and the move yielded three first-half goals.

All three strikes in the first half were eerily similar, and for all the good work Semih Kaya did in closing out the channel on the left-hand side, Chedjou and Sari undid it on the right. The formation shift encouraged the Gunners to incorporate a more direct feature in their game, and Ozil's pass for Alexis' goal in particular was absolutely sublime.

That is perhaps the big talking point—the change in philosophy, rather than the switch in formation—and playing longer has been something Arsenal have been subconsciously reluctant to do since the ACL injury to Theo Walcott back in January.

Despite signing Alexis and Welbeck in the summer, it took until Wednesday evening to click into gear. The Gunners have averaged the most possession per game (63.9 percent, per WhoScored.com) in the Premier League, often to a fault.

Too often the obsession with possession has been hindering the team in the final third; too often have Wenger's men invariably reached a blockade of 10 behind the ball, unable to penetrate in such tight areas of the pitch.

Against Galatasaray, they moved the ball quickly between the lines, finally, and what followed was a 3-0 half-time lead.

There was even room for some Wojciech Szczesny dramatics—dramatics that seem to happen too often, in truth—as David Ospina made his debut from the bench following a red card for the Pole.

Gala left a lot to be desired and many will warn not to draw too many conclusions from the result, but the fundamental differences in this side's performance, in comparison to recent weeks, were both undeniable and well worth lauding.

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