Arsenal cruised to victory behind a Danny Welbeck hat-
trick while Liverpool suffered defeat in Switzerland in
the Champions League on Wednesday.
Welbeck enjoyed his first career 3-goal match as
Arsenal overpowered Galatasaray 4-1 and survived with
10 men for the last half-hour after goalkeeper Wojciech
Szczesny was sent off.
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Against a weak defense, Welbeck side-footed in the
opener in the 22nd minute, swept in a second on the
half-hour and, after Alexis Sanchez also scored,
completed his hat-trick at the start of the second half.
Arsenal were gliding in the Group D encounter until
Szczesny rushed off his line and brought down Burak
Yilmaz, who then converted the resulting penalty.
Basel defeated Liverpool 1-0 to extend their exceptional
record against English clubs in the Champions League.
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Following a corner, veteran forward Marco Streller
pounced on a loose ball in the 52nd minute to earn the
Swiss champions' first Group B points.
Basel are now unbeaten in seven matches against
English opposition in the competition's group stage -- a
run started 12 years ago when they advanced ahead of
Liverpool.
Liverpool's best effort was Mario Balotelli's swerving,
60th-minute free kick from 30 yards, blocked awkwardly
by goalkeeper Tomas Vaslik.
Also in Group B, Real Madrid needed a 77th-minute goal
from substitute Karim Benzema to win 2-1 at
newcomers Ludogorets.
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Unfazed by the star-studded visitors in their first home
game in the Champions League, Ludogorets surprised
the defending 10-time champions by taking the lead in
the sixth minute.
Cristiano Ronaldo squandered his first chance to
equalise when his penalty kick was saved by goalkeeper
Vladislav Stoyanov in the 10th minute. But the Ballon
d'Or holder didn't miss a second time from the spot in
the 24th minute.
With Ludogorets holding their own, Benzema went on in
the 67th and volleyed in Marcelo's cross to secure
Madrid's second victory in Group B.
Arda Turan struck in the second half to inflict Juventus'
first defeat of the season and get Atletico Madrid's
Group A campaign up and running with a 1-0 victory.
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The Turkish midfielder scored the only goal of the game
in the 74th minute at the Vicente Calderon stadium to
give last season's finalists all three points.
Juve dominated possession but failed to test Atletico
goalkeeper Miguel Moya throughout the match.
Adrian Ramos struck twice after forward Ciro Immobile
opened the scoring in the third minute as Borussia
Dortmund swept to a convincing 3-0 victory over
Anderlecht in Group D in Brussels.
Dortmund immediately shrugged off their Bundesliga
struggles, and when Shinji Kagawa sent Italy's Immobile
through for an easy goal, the difference in class was
immediately clear.
In the 65th minute, Ramos stabbed home a pinpoint deep
pass from Lukasz Piszczek for the second and followed
up with a show of close control in the 79th, taking the
ball from the wing, turning and curling a third goal past
Silvio Proto.
Bayer Leverkusen eased past Benfica 3-1 in Group C.
Stefan Kiessling opened the scoring in the 25th minute
after Benfica goalkeeper Julio Cesar fumbled a shot by
Son Heung-Min, and Son scored in the 34th minute.
Eduardo Salvio pulled one back for Benfica in the second
half, but two minutes later Leverkusen restored their
two-goal lead when Hakan Calhanoglu converted a
seemingly generously awarded penalty.
Markus Rosenberg scored twice as Malmo beat
Olympiakos 2-0 for their first Champions League
victory.
The Malmo captain capitalised on slack defending to put
his team ahead four minutes before halftime in the Group A match and sealed it with a strike in the 82nd minute.
Kostas Mitroglou and Giannis Maniatis had good
chances to level the score for Olympiakos in the 68th
when Malmo's defense wobbled but they couldn't beat goalkeeper Robin Olsen.
Monaco held hosts Zenit St. Petersburg to a 0-0 draw in Group C after both sides failed to take their chances.
Monaco dominated possession but were denied by a
string of good saves by Zenit keeper Yuri Lodygin.
Zenit recovered from a poor start after the break but
Monaco's defense was able to cope with the pressure.
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