Danny Welbeck admitted that he forgot to claim the match ball after the first hat-trick of his professional career had fired Arsenal to an emphatic 4-1 Champions League victory over Galatasaray.
The striker, signed from Manchester United for £16m on transfer deadline day, was described as “electric” by the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, who could savour a result to stabilise the club’s Group D campaign. They had lost their opening tie 2-0 at Borussia Dortmund.
Welbeck became the sixth Englishman to score a Champions League hat-trick – following Mike Newell, Andy Cole, Michael Owen, Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney – and he could smile after later being reunited with the match ball, which had been signed for him by each of his team-mates.
Galatasaray’s vociferous travelling fans threw flares on to the pitch in the 36th minute and their enclosure was guarded by riot police with attack dogs at full-time. There were also flares thrown near to the Tollington Arms on Hornsey Road.
The Metropolitan police made six arrests and Uefa said that it would review the match delegate’s report before making a decision over what action – if any – to take. It was a night, however, that belonged to Arsenal and Welbeck, who now has four goals in five appearances for the club.
“I forgot the match ball,” Welbeck said, with a smile. “My last hat-trick was probably for Manchester United reserves. The manager has shown a lot of faith in me and I’m delighted to repay him tonight. He has given me a chance to play football up front, in my preferred position and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he is happy.
“The third goal was probably the hardest because I was stretching for it. I’ve been in that position a few times, trying to chip the keeper. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve set the benchmark with this result and we have to build on it.”
Welbeck’s last Champions League goal had come almost exactly a year ago – for United against Shakhtar Donetsk on 2 October. But it was not just his finishes that pleased Wenger, who also talked up his technique, pace and work-rate.
“I’ve learnt that Danny is a good finisher and technically he is very sound,” Wenger said. “That was a surprise, that he’s technically clean. I also didn’t know he was so quick. I knew he was quick but he can be electric. When he starts [to accelerate], you feel he has great pace.
“The potential is there and hopefully this hat-trick will help him to gain confidence. It helps always to know that you have a good chance to play the next game. His link-up play is good and so is his work-rate and attitude. He’s a team player, not only a finisher.”
The controversy of the evening was provided by the referee Gianluca Rocchi’s decision not to send off the Galatasaray defender Felipe Melo for a two-footed tackle on Alexis Sánchez in the 34th minute. He chose only to book him.
Rocchi sent off the Arsenal goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, on the hour for a last-man foul on Burak Yilmaz. He also awarded a penalty following the flashpoint, which Yilmaz scored. Wenger substituted Sánchez in order to introduce the replacement goalkeeper, David Ospina – a decision that appeared to infuriate the Chile forward.
“My first impression was that it was a red card [for Melo],” Wenger said. “I took Sánchez out to be a bit more solid defensively when we went down to 10 men. Unfortunately, in all my years as a manager, I’ve not seen a player who is happy to come off.
“On Wojciech’s red card, we lost an un-needed ball in our own half through Sánchez. Wojciech was a fraction late and the penalty can happen. The fact is that we were more guilty to lose the ball in our own half.”