Galatasaray 1 Arsenal 4: Aaron Ramsey and Lukas Podolski doubles ease the pressure on Arsene Wenger
11:22PM GMT 09 Dec 2014
After the boos, jeers and abuse in Stoke on Saturday, this match will be remembered for an authentic wonder goal from Aaron Ramsey that actually prompted gasps, cheers and applause from both sets of fans.
Ramsey may have as many as 15 years left in front of him at this level but it is doubtful whether he will ever strike a ball more sweetly than the 35-yard first-time left-footed volley that put Arsenal 3-0 up. Typically understated, Ramsey was content to agree that it was “up there with my best” as he left Istanbul on Tuesday night.
The ball was still rising when it hit the back of Sinan Bolat’s goal and, after a brief pause to compute what had happened, the spontaneous appreciation from many of the Galatasaray supporters told its own story.
Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, later admitted that Ramsey was so far out that he had initially not even wanted him to shoot. “I felt at the time it was not the right decision, but he proved me wrong,” he said.
The wider significance was of Ramsey showing further clear signs of his best form. His goal on Saturday against Stoke had been his first in 18 games and, after both he and Lukas Podolski had earlier put Arsenal into a 2-0 lead, his spectacular second here was also sufficient to effectively seal victory in only the 29th minute.
Following recent stutters, a 4-1 win will help to ease tensions among the club’s fan base although, this being Arsenal, there was an inevitable caveat. Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini both came off at half-time with respective tightness in their hamstring and groin, with Wenger at pains to stress that his two fit remaining central midfielders should be fine for the match against Newcastle United on Saturday.
Wenger was also delighted by what he called a “strong response” to the 3-2 defeat by Stoke City on Saturday although the “Arsene, thanks for the memories but it’s time to say goodbye” banner did also make its way to Istanbul on Tuesday night.
Arsenal were guaranteed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League for a 15th successive season before Tuesday night’s match. Having finished as runners-up in Group D, they again face the prospect of meeting one of the tournament favourites when the draw is made in Nyon on Monday. Real Madrid, Porto, Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Monaco and Paris St-Germain are among the potential opponents.
The usual intimidation and electric atmosphere of any match against Galatasaray in Istanbul was rather compromised on Tuesday night by the sight of a half-empty Turk Telekom Arena. Galatasaray’s poor form earlier in the competition had meant they were unable to lift themselves off the bottom of the group even in victory but, after replacing Cesar Prandelli with Hamza Hamzaoglu as interim manager, they had gone into the match on the back of consecutive wins. They had lost only four of their previous 20 home matches in Europe but the lethargy of the crowd was soon evident in the players’ performances.
Arsenal, by contrast, had begun with nine full internationals even while leaving the likes of Alexis Sánchez, Danny Welbeck, Olivier Giroud, Kieran Gibbs and Santi Cazorla back in London. In fielding a front three of Lukas Podolski, Joel Campbell and Yaya Sanogo, Wenger had also selected people with much to prove.
Podolski has been the most vocal of those Arsenal players demanding more of a first-team opportunity and, within three minutes, he had his chance. Ramsey had made a powerful run from midfield and, with Galatasaray right-back Tarik Camdal having wandered out of position, fed Podolski in space just inside the penalty area. The angle was tight but there are few footballers in the world who can generate more power than Podolski and before Bolat could even set himself, he had smashed his finish into his near-post top corner.
With nothing to play for, Galatasaray were willing to keep pushing forward in fairly kamikaze style and, while Hakan Balta missed a wonderful chance to level, they were hopelessly open to Arsenal’s attacks.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was looking far more effective playing from a central midfield position and, after Podolski made a rare tackle to win back possession, had the chance to run at the Galatasaray defence. It created further space, with Ramsey peeling off to the left and side-footing his finish beyond Bolat.
The chances kept coming. Podolski was again given time and space to unleash his thunderbolt of a left-foot shot and he rattled the crossbar after being fed by Ramsey.
The Wales midfielder then created a chance for Campbell that was deflected over and another opportunity for Podolski, who forced a fingertip save from Bolat. Campbell took the resulting corner and it appeared to have been headed to safety deep inside the Galatasaray half. Step forward Ramsey, who smashed his spectacular volley into the top corner.
Ramsey himself even looked shocked by the quality of his finish and simply began laughing rather than celebrating.
The ease with which Arsenal were creating chances prompted eyes to turn to Dortmund, where a draw would allow Wenger’s team to top Group D if they won by six goals. Wenger admitted that at half-time he felt it was still possible but the need to rest Ramsey and Flamini ensured a loss of momentum. “It was too much for us to hope we could score six but I have no regrets with the players I left at home,” Wenger said.
Ramsey and Flamini were to be replaced by two academy midfielders in Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Gedion Zelalem. The experience will benefit the 17-year-olds but Arsenal did lose their control of midfield. Only a brilliant block from Per Mertesacker denied Umut Bulut but Galatasaray got the goal that their second-half dominance had merited when Wesley Sneijder curled an 88th-minute free-kick past Wojciech Szczesny. The three-goal lead was then almost immediately restored with Podolski’s second of the night.
