Arsenal defeat Galatasaray in final group game

Arsenal were back in business on Tuesday night as they avenged an embarrassing defeat to Stoke at the weekend with a 4-1 victory over Galatasaray in Turkey. The Gunners had already qualified for the final 16 of the Champions League, but a win here and a defeat for Dortmund against Anderlecht would've seen us finish top of the group, rather than second which is where we actually finished. That means that for another year we will have to face one of Europe's 'big boys'. Had we scored six with a Dortmund draw then we would've finished top. Football is often a game of slim margains, which makes that 3-3 draw with Anderlecht an even more bitter pill to swallow. However, after a torrid time at the weekend it's time to focus on what little positives we can find in this Arsenal side at the moment.

Arsenal easily won their final group game of this season's Champions League

Obviously reaching the last sixteen of the Champions League is a huge achievement, but the Gunners will have to fight incredibly hard if they're to qualify for the same competition next season. We haven't seemed to gather any momentum this season but by scoring 4 in the week, it'll hopefully bring a new found optimism to the side going into Newcastle at the weekend.

Arsenal's display against Turkish outfit Galatasaray was hugely impressive, but with the amount of space they gave us in the middle of the park it came as no surprise that we won in a relatively easy way. We rested a number of key players but each goal was very impressive as both Lukas Podolski and Aaron Ramsey scored twice. The form of Aaron Ramsey has heavily improved in the last two games, and his displays are very timely with both Arteta and Wilshere out injured. He scored a controlled volley against Stoke on Saturday and then assisted and scored twice against Galatasaray. The first was rolled into the far corner with his left foot and then his second was simply brilliant. The ball was headed clear from a corner and from 30 yards out the Welshman unleashed an amazing effort on his weaker foot which flew into the top corner.

Lukas Podolski opened the scoring after just three minutes and then sealed the win with the last kick of the game. For the first he unleashed a thumping effort that flew past the keeper, before hitting the bar from a similar angle later in the half. The German then played a one-two with Sanogo before burying the ball for his second of the night. It was a performance that sent a message to the manager. Podolski has been stuck on the bench all season but his finishing on Tuesday displayed why he has to play more; a yard of space inside the box and he'll score.

The performance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the middle of the park was also encouraging. Arsene Wenger has said he sees his future in a more central role, and after scoring just two in twenty four appearances this season you can see why. The Ox's displays this season have been very impressive. Playing out-wide he has offered a constant threat with his pace and directness but his drive from a more central area is what we miss when Wilshere is out injured. Mathieu Debuchy's return from injury was meanwhile a big positive.

Joel Campbell was given just his second Arsenal start against Galatasaray and was very positive in attack. Like Oxlade-Chamberlain he is very direct and always looked to take on his man. You can see why he doesn't play as often as some fans have been calling for though; his attitude and work rate don't seem to be particularly impressive and he is actually quite wasteful in possession. If he's to make it in this Arsenal side then he'll need to get his head up more and look for a pass more often than he did in midweek.

Three players made their Champions League debuts, which for two of them it was their full senior debuts. Gedion Zelalem featured in the FA Cup last season against Coventry and the game against Galatasaray gave him a chance to show what all the hype about the youngster is about. He was extremely composed on the ball, and typified that of an Arsenal midfield performance, completing 90% of his 44 passes.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Stefan O'Connor were the players to make their full debuts though. Both are just 17, and didn't have a lot to do in all honesty. Maitland-Niles looked assured but didn't get to show the directness he brings to the Academy sides in what was a second half of a much slower intensity. O'Connor looked a little out of his depth, slotting in at right back. He's a centre back by trade and he looked a little nervy out of position as Galatasaray had a late surge, but overall he did fairly well in the little time he had.

With the draw to happen on Monday, here's hoping we get Porto or Monaco, rather than the likes of Bayern and Real Madrid.

The team's line-ups: 

Galatasaray: Bolat, Telles. Balta, Camdal(45), Kaya, Melo, Sneijder, Colak, Bangna(77), Yilmaz(45), Bulut.
Subs: Iscan, Sari, Ozcal, Kurtulus, Oztekin(45), Altintop(45), Adin(77).

Arsenal: Szczesny, Debuchy(77), Chambers, Mertesacker, Bellerin, Flamini(45), Ramsey(45), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Campbell, Podolski, Sanogo.
Subs: Martinez, O'Connor(77), Kamara, Zelalem(45), Maitland-Niles(45), Iwobi, Akpom.

My man of the match: Aaron Ramsey.

Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan.
Attendance: 20,590.

Arsenal warm up for Chelsea with midweek win

Arsenal put a laboured performance against Spurs behind them on Wednesday night as they comfortably beat Galatasaray in the Champions League. Danny Welbeck scored a hat-trick whilst Sanchez added to his tally this season as the Gunners sealed a relatively easy win at the Emirates. It was refreshing to see us play with so much confidence and looking ahead to Chelsea at the weekend it should give us a boost going forward.

Danny Welbeck is quickly becoming a fan favourite at Arsenal

Danny Welbeck has given Arsenal a different option since he joined the club. He's the polar opposite of Giroud and showed that with his goals in midweek against our Turkish opponents. Each goal was taken with great assurance and showed our ability to now get players in behind. It meanwhile showed the willingness of Welbeck to impress and assuming he can now kick on he'll prove to be a great addition to the side. The first was a lovely reverse ball from Alexis into the English forward, the second showed great strength and determination to get away from Melo whilst the third was a little dinked finish over the keeper.

Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have rarely played with each other so far in Arsenal colours but Wednesday showed exactly why they should be playing more often with each other. Ozil was deployed in his favoured number 10 position, where he was against Villa, so it comes as no great surprise that both of our best performances this season have come with Ozil playing in the free role behind the striker. The German provided the assist for Sanchez's goal who stuck his chance away in familiar fashion. It reminded me a lot of a Barcelona type goal he'd score and that made it even more pleasing on the eye.

Alexis Sanchez has been quite brilliant since his arrival in the summer and is already proving why he was worth the fee to bring him to the club. The Chilean now has 5 in 11 games and both his assist and goal were of real quality.

The only negative from the game was the red card to Wojciech Szczesny. Arsenal had looked fairly comfortable for most of the night so to conceded was disappointing. The Polish stopper came racing out of his goal but brought down Yilmaz who was denied a goal scoring opportunity and therefore Szczesny saw red. It was then Yilmaz who sent sub Ospina the wrong way to make it 4-1.

With Chelsea at the weekend I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. We've struggled to find any real consistency this season and draws have been an issue. Saying that, I'd happily take a draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. It'll be very interesting to see how we line-up and whether Wenger finally changes his tactics for a big game or not.

As seen with last season's trip to the Bridge, we got completely thrashed as a result of our fullbacks pushing on and us not having a defensive midfielder. Flamini was average against Galatasaray in the week whilst Arteta is out injured. I'd like to see Diaby played there as I think it could be interesting to see what he could bring to that defensive minded midfield role. I think he'd suit it perfectly and providing he's fit enough to play, he could be the midfield enforcer we've been looking for in these big games.

I'm feeling more positive for the Chelsea game due to the win in the Champions League in the week but if we don't change things up tactically we could be on the end of another drubbing. One thing's for sure though, we definitely won't suffer the same sort of embarrassing score-line, and the players will desperately be seeking revenge!

The team's line-ups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain(67), Ozil(76), Sanchez(60), Welbeck.
Subs: Ospina(60), Bellerin, Coquelin, Wilshere(67),  Rosicky(67), Campbell, Podolski.

Galatasaray: Muslera, Chedjou, Melo, Kaya, Sari(67), Kurtulus(45), Sneijder, Dzemali, Telles, Pandev(69), Yilmaz.
Subs: Bolat, Bulut(67), Camdal, Bangna(67), Altintop(45), Adin, Balta.

My man of the match: Danny Welbeck.

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi.
Attendance: 59,803.

Emirates Cup 2013

After a years break due to the London 2012 Olympics the pre-season Emirates Cup returned as hosts Arsenal welcomed Napoli, Galatasaray and Porto to London.

Galatasaray 1-0 Porto: The first game saw Turkish side Galatasaray play Portuguese side Porto. They are both well renowned teams and it proved to be a great game. Only one goal was scored but it was a tale of 3 penalties. Porto missed two of theirs. Jackson Martinez saw his saved by Muslera and then Lucho Gonzalez pulled his wide. However Galatasaray put their penalty away. After former Arsenal favourite Eboue was fouled, Felipe Melo stepped up to find the back of the net.

Arsenal 2-2 Napoli The second game of the tournament saw the hosts Arsenal in action against Italian side Napoli. The away side went 2-0 up after goals from Insigne and Pandev. However the Gunners came back fighting. Olivier Giroud scored a bicycle kick before the Gunners man of the match Laurent Koscielny headed home from a free-kick. Former Madrid man and Arsenal target Higuain was welcomed to boo's from the Emirates crowd but he failed to get on the scoresheet.

Napoli 1-3 Porto: The second day saw Napoli play Porto in the first fixture of the afternoon. The victors were Porto as they came from a goal down to win 3-1. Pandev opened the scoring for Napoli as he grabbed his second of the tournament. However, goals from Ghilas, Fernandez (og) and Lima secured the win for the Portuguese side.

Arsenal 1-2 Galatasaray: It was then Arsenal's turn once more. If they won then they'd win the competition. The match gave us a chance to see new signing Yaya Sanogo given his debut and also Santi Cazorla back in action. The Gunners went into the break a goal to the good after Walcott's attempted cross found the back of the net. However the second half's performance wasn't great. Former nemesis Didier Drogba dived to win a penalty which he then converted to equalise and then scored the winner which saw Galatasaray lift the Emirates Cup.

It was a far from perfect weekend for Arsenal as they finished third in the table ahead of Napoli and behind Porto and Galatasaray. With our final pre-season game next week against Man City there is still plenty of work to do on the pitch and off it. Suarez, a defensive midfielder and maybe a goalkeeper would do nicely.