Arsenal Destroy Galatasaray's Right: Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez Star

Arsenal's UEFA Champions League campaign received a shot in the arm on Wednesday evening, as Danny Welbeck led his side to a 4-1 victory and bagged a brilliant hat-trick.

Having been beaten, soundly, 2-0 by Borussia Dortmund in the opener, a three-point haul was direly needed, and the Gunners bucked recent form (one win in six) to cash in a shocking Gala performance.

Formations & XIs

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Arsenal began in a 4-2-3-1—finally!—and played Mesut Ozil in the No. 10 role. Santi Cazorla played alongside Mathieu Flamini in central midfield and Alexis Sanchez started from the left.

Galatasaray played a 3-5-2 with Felipe Melo in central defence and Wesley Sneijder just in front of the back three, edging into an Andrea Pirlo-esque role (or trying, at least).

Attacking the Left

Arsenal began in irresistible form, swarming all over Gala and probing each area of the pitch for weakness. Ozil immediately looked better in a central berth, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was in the mood on the right and Cazorla was recycling play with longer passes superbly from deep.

It was the left side—Alexis' side—the Gunners chose to work consistently after a varied 15-minute spell, with the key difference being not in the home-side's armoury, but in the cracks they found in the defence.

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Gala's back three/five was a mess; for all the good work Semih Kaya (LCB) did—and he was superb closing out the channel behind the roaming Alex Telles—Aurelien Chedjou, Veysel Sari and Melo nullified it.

The gap between Sari and Chedjou stood at least 15 metres on many occasions, allowing Alexis and Welbeck to simply slip in and receive a pass.

All three first-half goals were exceptionally similar, with Gala being punished again and again for over-committing the wing-back and failing to drop Kurtulus into the hole that appeared.

Gala Riddled With Issues

As great as Arsenal were—and they really were very impressive for a number of reasons—we need to look at Gala's abysmal showing and temper our expectations for Arsenal as a result.

Cesare Prandelli has had a bad start to life as Galatasaray; it's amazing to think it's the same coach who, from the final of Euro 2012 up until the World Cup 2014, was revered as a tactical mastermind.

He's changed formations willfully so far and ended up with a curious selection on Wednesday night. The midfield didn't interact with the attack, Sneijder was questionable so deep and Melo should have been red carded for what looked like attempted murder on Alexis Sanchez.

In its most primal form, the system looked very Italy circa 2012, but the players aren't right for it. Melo is not Daniele De Rossi, Sneijder is not Pirlo and neither of the strikers are complete enough to make it work.

Szczesny's Red Card

It was 4-0 by the time Wojciech Szczesny got sent off, meaning the result was essentially safe despite the impending 30 minutes set to be 10 vs. 11. It's the third time this has happened to the Pole, with him rushing out rashly and getting caught at Euro 2012 and against Bayern Munich earlier this year.

Arsenal fell into a 4-4-1 shell and Arsene Wenger freshened up his midfield. Tomas Rosicky was huge for the Gunners carrying the ball out on the counterattacks, as Gala regained the upper hand and dominated possession in the closing stages.

Substitute goalkeeper David Ospina looked very good, and showed a lot of what we saw at the World Cup: Strong hands, great agility and excellent reflexes.

Gala showed life, and Wenger admitted during the post-match press conference that the game got away from his side after falling to 10 and that the away side showed their qualities when allowed.

Quickfire Takeaways

• Ozil as a No. 10 was great, and he played well even if some still refuse to believe it. The matchup against Chelsea and what to do with him, though, is a serious headache.
• Wenger was beaming when talking all things Welbeck in the post-match conference, enthusing about his speed, finishing and link play.
• Cazorla impressed in holding midfield—a potential new role for him—but let's not jump to conclusions just yet.
• Prandelli is already under pressure, and he may be best served to stick to one system and let the squad gel.

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