podolski, ramsey inspire arsenal at galatasaray published: tuesday 9 december 2014, 22.44cet galatasaray aş 1-4 arsenal fc lukas podolski and aaron ramsey scored two goals each as the gunners finished second in group d behind borussia dortmund.
• aaron ramsey and lukas podolski score twice for arsenal • wesley sneijder's late free-kick is mere consolation for the hosts • ainsley maitland-niles and stefan o'connor, both 17, make their arsenal debuts • galatasaray have not won a european game since matchday six last season • round of 16 draw takes place in nyon at 12.00cet on 15 december
arsenal fc will take their place in the uefa champions league round of 16 draw as group d runners-up after a comfortable victory against galatasaray aş.
with qualification having been assured on matchday five, arsenal manager arsène wenger made five changes to the side beaten 3-2 by stoke city fc on saturday. one of those brought in for his first uefa champions league start of the season was lukas podolski, who gave his manager an early reminder of his striking qualities by taking receipt of aaron ramsey's pass and rifling a shot into the roof of the net.
ın an end-to-end start, hakan balta dragged an effort wide after alex telles' attempt from a partially-cleared corner had dropped kindly for the defender in the penalty area. ıt was a miss that was ruthlessly punished. ramsey, having fashioned the opener with a surging run, turned goalscorer, finishing off a counterattack led by alex oxlade-chamberlain with a left-footed shot across sinan bolat. game over, seemingly, with 11 minutes gone.
the gunners were creating chances at will, helped by their opponents' propensity to cede possession. podolski chanced his arm with a shot against the crossbar and, after hakan had given the ball away under no pressure, was then denied by an excellent bolat save.
from the ensuing corner ramsey arrowed in his second. seizing on burak yılmaz's header, the wales midfielder let fly with a half-volley from outside the box that flew into the top right-hand corner of bolat's net – it was his sixth goal in as many appearances against turkish opposition.
arsenal continued to pick off the hosts with ease, with only another bolat stop, to thwart joel campbell, sparing them further punishment before the break. with the contest all but over, wenger introduced ainsley maitland-niles and gedion zelalem – two members of the club's uefa youth league squad – for the second half, the former replacing ramsey for his arsenal debut.
yasin özteki, another substitute, added zest to a hitherto pedestrian galatasaray attack after replacing burak at the break. with victory secure, arsenal were content to play on the break, their desire to keep a clean sheet epitomised by per mertesacker's goal-saving block as umut bulut looked certain to score.
the arsenal net was breached with two minutes remaining when wesley sneijder curled a free-kick beyond wojciech szczęsny. podolski had the final say, though, running on to yaya sanogo's pass and poking the ball past bolat.
