Galatasaray 1-4 Arsenal: Ramsay wonder goal stars

Arsenal produced the perfect response to silence their critics with a 4-1 Champions League win over Galatasaray in Istanbul, where Aaron Ramsey scored one of the goals of the season.

Arsenal's Joel Campbell vies for the ball with Galatasaray's Felipe Melo. Picture: Getty

Scorers: Galatasaray - Sneijder (88); Arsenal - Podolski (3, 90), Ramsey (11, 29)

The Gunners, who had already qualified for the knockout stages, romped to a comfortable victory, but still had to settle for runners-up spot in Group D behind Borussia Dortmund.

Arsenal had raced into the lead after just two minutes when Lukas Podolski crashed the ball into the top left corner.

Galatasaray defender Hakan Balta missed a great chance to equalise when he stabbed the ball wide from six yards.

Ramsey made it 2-0 on 11 minutes with a neat finish after a quick break from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Podolski lashed another fierce shot against the crossbar, before Ramsey netted a superb half-volley from all of 30 yards which was applauded by the home supporters.

The second half was a much-more subdued affair, with Arsenal looking to counter after soaking up plenty of pressure with 6ft 6in tall World Cup winner Per Mertesacker blocking a goal-bound shot from Umut Bulut on 65 minutes before Wesley Sneijder clipped home a late 20-yard free-kick.

Podolski grabbed a fourth on the break deep into stoppage time. Arsenal will now regroup ahead of the knockout stages in mid-February.

The Gunners, who blew a 3-0 lead at home to Anderlecht on matchday four, will now await their last 16 opponents in the draw – when the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris St Germain and defending champions Bayern Munich could all yet come out of the top seed pot.

Galatasary: Bolat, Alex, Balta, Kaya, Camdal (Altintop 46), Felipe Melo, Sneijder,Bruma (Adin 77),Colak,Bulut, Burak Yilmaz (Oztekin 46). Subs not used: Iscan,Ozcal,Kurtulus,Sari.

Arsenal: Szczesny,Debuchy (O’Connor 76), Mertesacker, Chambers, Bellerin, Oxlade-Chamberlain,Flamini (Zelalem 46), Ramsey (Maitland-Niles 46), Campbell, Sanogo, Podolski. Subs not used: Martinez, Akpom, Iwobi, Kamara.

Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan (Spa)

Attendance: 20,590