Going into this game, I didn't expect us to produce such a strong display. As I've stated, it was unlikely Borussia would lose their game. They eventually drew against Anderlecht, a result which left a narrow window of opportunity for us. And by "narrow" I mean a win by a 6-goal margin over Gala.
The first half
An achievement which wasn't completely out of the question during the first 45 minutes. In fact, it seemed more and more likely as the half progressed.
We've started the game in the best possible manner: by scoring a quick goal. Ramsey found space near the box, his pass singled out an unmarked Podolski and the German fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner. 1-0.
Gala responded with a dangerous counter-attack, but, thankfully, Bellerin (deputising at left-back) made a gorgeous last-ditch tackle. It would be the last moment of danger before we took full control of the game.
Which happened in the 11th minute. Podolski won a tackle near the halfway line and passed the ball to Oxlade. The Englishman saw Ramsey making a run, rolled the ball in the Welshman's direction and Aaron did the rest by coolly poking the ball into the far corner. 2-0.
We could have been further up through first Podolski and then Sanogo, only for the former's strike to rebound off the bar and the latter's effort blocked to be blocked by a defender. However, we did add a third in the 29th minute.
The move started rather innocuously. Campbell swung in a corner which was cleared at the near post. The last thing I saw before the visual part of my stream died was Ramsey readying his left foot to hit the ball on the half-volley from some thirty yards out. But the audio part of the steam still worked fine and before I even thought "Why, oh why, Aaron?" the commentator shouted what a beauty of the goal the Welshman just scored. Replays showed Ramsey's beautiful strike (with his weak foot, mind you) fly all the distance to the goal and end up in the top corner. The Welsh Jesus has returned.
However, we didn't put the foot off the gas till the whistle went. Campbell was denied from a one-on-one, Podolski's cannon of a shot was somehow parried away to safety and I vaguely recall some dangerous shot from Oxlade-Chamberlain which flied over the bar. The possibility of us scoring the required six goals was there all right.
The second half
This possibility went up in flames right after the restart, as Arsene took off Ramsey and Flamini for Zelalem and Maitland-Niles respectively. Not that I rue the manager's decision. It was the right call to rest those who needed it most. That's what we've taken so many youngsters to Turkey for. To give seniors a breather provided we got a satisfactory result.
The downside of that double sub was that our midfield lost it's cohesion and urgency. Both youngsters (under the guidance of Oxlade-Chamberlain) did pretty well on their debut, though. At least I recall no blunders from them, which is a positive in itself.
These changes led to us surrendering possession and, consequently, our chances of scoring six. However, we came across as a very organised defensive unit, mostly restricting the Turks to distance shots. There were a couple of last-minute blocks from Chambers and Debuchy, but not much else. The few efforts that hit the target were dealt with by Szczesny easily.
Gala got their consolation goal, for whatever it was worth. The ref appointed a ridiculuous free-kick on the line of our box (the ball hit Mert's arms, but the German was blocking the shot and turning away from the ball. It could have hit him in the face, for instance, but the ref wouldn't say it's a free-kick in this case). Technically, though, the Spanish referee was within his rights as the ball hit the arm. Sneijder stepped up and smashed an unstoppable effort into the top corner. No chance for Szczesny.
We did manage to end the game on a high, though. A quick counter inside the last minute of injury time saw Poldi go one-on-one with the keeper and the German slotted his chance away. 4-1 it finished.
The aftermath
"We gave a strong response. We were dangerous every time we won the ball back, had good penetration, goals and until half-time we were very strong. In the second half we suffered a bit more - some players had not enough competitive games and I had to take two players off. We were a bit more lightweight in midfield. It was, overall, a strong performance."
A summary from the manager and it's a fair one. Interestingly enough, he said the possibility of scoring six crossed his mind at half-time:
"Not at the start of the game, but at half-time yes. But after we had to take Ramsey and Flamini off, it was too much for us to hope we could score six. We were closer to conceding one or two more in the second half. We had still our opportunities. No regrets, the players I left at home, I had no choice."
Borussia still finished top, despite drawing at home against Anderlecht (wait, Anderlecht is a hard team to play? At home? Who would have thought?) and thus we have to steel ourselves for a tougher opponent in the last sixteen. We'll face one of Atletico, Real, Barcelona, Bayern, Porto or Monaco. Not the prettiest picture, but to prove you are the best you have to beat the best. There's no escaping a big team in the Champions' League play-off round, so does it really matter when we draw one?
Alright, I'll leave it at that. Back tomorrow (or on Saturday) with the preview and all that entails.
Until the, enjoy the win
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