Three and easy for Arsenal Arsenal celebrate after Kieran Gibbs scored the opening goal at Fenerbahce. Goals from Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud have put Arsene Wenger's men in a commanding position in the Champions League play-off ahead of next week's second legArsenal ran out comfortable
3-0 winners over
Fenerbahce in Istanbul on
Wednesday night to put one
foot in the group stages of
the Champions League. Second-half goals from
Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey
and a penalty from Olivier Giroud made sure of the win, with the Gunners now
firmly in the driving seat ahead of next week's
second leg at the Emirates Stadium. Arsene Wenger was forced into one change from the
opening day of the Premier League season with
injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ruling him out of
the trip to Turkey. Santi Cazorla replaced the England international with
Lukas Podolski having to settle for a place on the
bench. Fenerbahce gave starts to new signings Bruno Alves
and Michal Kadlec, while another new arrival
Emmanuel Emenike was named as a substitute. Having dominated the opening exchanges, Arsenal
tested goalkeeper Volkan Demirel for the first time
after 19 minutes. Cazorla created the first opportunity for Walcott, his
through-ball nearly finding the forward, but Demirel
slid in well to intercept. The loose ball fell to Tomas Rosicky and he delivered
a perfect cross for Giroud but the striker’s header was
just wide of goal. Fenerbahce were struggling to get into the game and
failed to test Wojciech Szczesny in the opening half. Wenger's early season injury problems continued just
after the half hour when Laurent Koscielny was
forced off with a head injury. The French defender clashed with Pierre Webo and
had to be replaced by Carl Jenkinson. The hosts began the second half at a much higher
tempo but fell behind six minutes in as Gibbs scored a crucial away goal. Just after the hour, Arsenal doubled their lead thanks
to Ramsey. He received a pass from Jack Wilshere 35 yards from
goal and moved at pace towards the Fenerbahce
defence. As he reached the penalty area, Ramsey fired a low shot into the bottom corner, although
Demirel should have done better. The victory was secured with 14 minutes to play as
Kadlec brought down Walcott inside the penalty area. Giroud made no mistake from the spot, sending Demirel the wrong way to complete a perfect night
for Arsenal.