Danny Welbeck plundered a hat-trick as Arsenal got their Champions League campaign up and running with a 4-1 victory over Galatasaray at the Emirates Stadium.

Play was halted in the first half after the Turkish away supporters threw flares onto the pitch.

With England boss Roy Hodgson watching from the stands, Welbeck, the £16million deadline day signing from Manchester United, produced a clinical display to put the Gunners back on course for qualification from Group D and mark manager Arsene Wenger’s 18th anniversary in style.

However, governing body UEFA are likely to launch an investigation into the unsavoury scenes 20 minutes into the match which saw play halted after several flares were jettisoned from the away end, with Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and captain Wesley Sneijder helping restore calm as riot Police surrounded the perimeter fences.

After a positive start and then surviving a couple of dangerous counter-attacks, Arsenal swept into the lead on 22 minutes when Welbeck converted a inch-perfect pass from Alexis Sanchez.

Welbeck doubled Arsenal’s lead on the half hour with another neat finish, this time latching onto a back header before running clear to beat the keeper.

Galatasaray fans then let off several flares and threw them onto the pitch which saw the game halted for several minutes, and could lead to disciplinary action from UEFA once all of the reports are gathered.

Sanchez – who had earlier been felled by a two-footed lunge from defender Felipe Melo, which was only punished by a yellow card – slid home a third goal just before the break.

Welbeck completed his hat-trick on 52 minutes, before Arsenal were reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny pole axed Burak Yilmaz, who converted the resulting penalty.

Colombian David Ospina made a couple of smart saves during the closing stages, as Arsenal will now head to Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sunday in confident mood.

The Galatasaray fans had let off flares in streets around Ashburton Grove before the match and thrown some into the nearby Tollington Arms pub, for which Police made arrests.

The Turks continued their ferocious support inside the Emirates Stadium right up to and past kick-off, but it was Arsenal who made a bright start.

With Sanchez and club-record signing Mesut Ozil interchanging down the left, backed up by the quick feet of Santi Cazorla and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain marauding down the other flank at every opportunity, the Gunners showed plenty of attacking intent to support Welbeck.

Galatasaray, though, were also dangerous on the counter, with a curling shot from Telles Alex spinning wide of the far post.

Arsenal, so poor in their opening Group D game away to Borussia Dortmund, finally found a decisive pass as they swept into the lead on 22 minutes.

Kieran Gibbs – another of several Arsenal players being watched by Hodgson in the stands – fed Sanchez on the left.

The Chile international strode forwards, cut inside and then played a slide-rule pass through into the path of Welbeck, who held off Melo to guide the ball under Muslera.

England forward Welbeck almost skipped into the six-yard box, this time down the right, but was thwarted by a last-ditch tackle by Sneijder.

It was, though, soon 2-0.

Aurelien Chedjou sent an attempted clearance header back towards goal, which Welbeck was onto in a flash, nodding it clear of Melo before sprinting to the edge of the penalty area, from where he coolly dispatched a low shot into the bottom right corner.

Welbeck could have chalked up a hat-trick when he side footed the ball straight at the keeper.

At the other end, Goran Pandev then did the same, with Szczesny gathering the 12-yard bobbling shot.

Galatasaray defender Melo should then have been shown a red card for a reckless two-footed lung on Sanchez, which left him stricken on the far touchline, but Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi showed only a yellow card.

The match was stopped for several minutes after Galatasaray fans threw flares onto the pitch from the far corner behind Muslera’s goal, which the keeper went over to kick from the pitch before trying to calm the atmosphere as riot Police moved around the Clock End.

The Galatasaray fans were, however, left in stunned silence after the start as Sanchez swept in a third goal.

The Chilean, a £32million summer signing from Barcelona, showed no ill effects of Melo’s brutal challenge as he collected Ozil’s pass which split the defence to slot in his fifth goal of the season on 41 minutes.

Arsenal continued where they had left off following the restart.

It was a neat through ball from the England midfielder which released Welbeck for his hat-trick on 53 minutes, the striker clipping his shot over the keeper before taking in the adulation of the North Bank.

Arsenal had to play out the final 30 minutes with only 10 men after Szczesny upended Yilmaz as the Turkish forward beat the offside trap to dart onto a through ball.

The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and brandished a red card.

Sanchez was the player substituted as Ospina, signed from Lille in the summer, came on, but the Colombian goalkeeper was sent the wrong way by Yilmaz.

Ospina later made a fine save from Yilmaz’s close-range header, clawing the ball away from under the crossbar and also denied Hamit Altintop as well as Sneijder.

In stoppage time, Cazorla’s chip was cleared in front of the line by Semih Kaya.

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Liverpool became the latest big-name English scalp to be claimed by Basel who capitalised on the Reds’ well-known vulnerability at set-pieces.

The Swiss had beaten Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham in the last four years and added the five-time Champions League winners to that list to move ahead of their opponents in Group B after Marco Streller converted a 53rd-minute corner.

It was not as devastating or catastrophic as their last visit to St Jakob Park 12 years ago when a 3-3 draw – having been three down at half-time – sent them crashing out the competition.

Captain Steven Gerrard, the only survivor from 2002, ranked his performance that night as one of his worst and there were a few of his current team-mates who should certainly be assessing their contributions this time around.

But Liverpool still have plenty of time to remedy the situation, although they will be hoping the injured Daniel Sturridge regains and maintains full fitness for the back-to-back meetings with defending champions Real Madrid up next.

Basel, watched by Germany manager Joachim Low who lives nearby, attacked with pace and controlled possession – something which was a familiar trait of Brendan Rodgers’ side 12 months ago but seems to have gone astray with the integration of a number of summer signings – and no shortage of aggression.

In fact the only black mark for the hosts came in the first half when referee Jonas Eriksson halted play to retrieve a missile thrown from their hard-core fans behind one of the goals.

Liverpool never really threatened Tomas Vaclik in the Basel goal and that was not just down to the absence of Sturridge, who has missed the last six matches with a thigh injury but could return against West Brom at the weekend.

Mario Balotelli began by appearing like he was starting to look more comfortable in the spearhead role, holding up the ball well and linking play, particularly with the overlapping Javi Manquillo – a combination which managed to pick out Raheem Sterling only for the forward to be flagged offside before his shot against the post and converted rebound had registered.

However, Balotelli he became increasingly isolated up front and still does not offer enough in the way of work-rate and movement for Rodgers and on more than one occasion the manager registered his displeasure that the Italian was not working harder for his team-mates.

The better of the chances fell to Basel, who looked to expose the space behind Liverpool’s advancing full-backs – particularly the left-sided Jose Enrique who allowed Derlis Gonzalez, an early substitute for the injured Behrang Safari, to get the wrong side of him only for his poor first touch to knock off the end of the pitch.

Mignolet, who has come in for increasing criticism recently, dealt comfortable with Basel’s first shot from Mohamed Elneny and then blocked Geoffro Serey Dey’s effort after he side-stepped Enrique and Dejan Lovren far too easily but he was relieved to see Ahmed Hamoudi’s fierce angled attempt flash past his far post.

Lovren was only slightly more effective at the other end, missing two good chances with his head from Philippe Coutinho set-pieces.

Sterling also failed to trouble goalkeeper Vaclik sufficiently after Jordan Henderson’s raking crossfield ball dropped to him just before half-time.

The England winger’s block on Gonzalez five minutes into the second half had home fans screaming for a penalty but Eriksson did not agree.

Mignolet came to his side’s rescue moments later saving low from Hamoudi but Lovren’s panicked concession of a corner proved costly as Liverpool were exposed yet again at a set-piece as the goalkeeper clawed out the flick on from Taulant Xhaka’s corner but could not prevent Streller smashing home from close range.

Liverpool’s response was a viciously dipping 35-yard Balotelli free-kick which Vaclik parried into the path of Lazar Markovic whose follow-up was blocked, although the 20-year-old Serbian was far more culpable in missing the target from Enrique’s low cross with 14 minutes to go.

Even Gerrard, so often the saviour in such situations and who scored an added time winner to get their campaign off to a winning start at Anfield against Ludogorets – could not rescue a point with a late free-kick straight at Vaclik.

The final whistle brought huge cheers – and jeers as Balotelli turned on his heels and marched straight down the tunnel without a second glance behind him. The 24-year-old still has plenty to learn if he is to come anywhere close to become the striker Liverpool expect him to be.

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Arda Turan struck in the second half to inflict Juventus’ first defeat of the season and get Atletico Madrid’s Champions League Group A campaign up and running.

The Turkish midfielder scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute at the Vicente Calderon stadium on Wednesday evening to give last season’s finalists all three points in the 1-0 victory.

After suffering a 3-2 defeat in their opener at Olympiacos a fortnight ago, Atletico went into the encounter without injured captain Gabi and under pressure to deliver.

Juve dominated possession but failed to test Atletico goalkeeper Miguel Moya throughout the match.

The outcome has lifted Atletico level on three points with Juve, Malmo and Olympiacos after two games played.

Malmo beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the other group game.

The visitors, heading into the game on the back of six straight wins in all competitions and having kept a clean sheet in the process, looked nervous in the early stages.

Raul Garcia headed Atletico’s first chance just wide after five minutes before it was Juve who threatened, Claudio Marchisio seeing his long-range effort go off target.

Mario Mandzukic had the best chance to break the deadlock in the 25th minute but the Croatian’s rising shot from 30 yards was kept out by Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Shortly after, Diego Godin met a Koke free-kick into the box with a header which went over the bar.

The hosts finished the first half with a good chance for Saul Niguez, whose header from Koke’s cross flashed wide.

Simeone made his first substitution early in the second half with Antoine Griezmann replacing Niguez.

Juve struggled to break Atletico’s defensive line and in the 72nd minute, Carlos Tevez’ goal-bound attempt was blocked by a defender.

Atletico pressed forward more aggressively and were rewarded when Juanfran’s cross found Turan in the box and his left-footed strike towards the far post beat Buffon.

The hosts almost shot themselves in the foot four minutes later when Stephan Lichsteiner’s effort from 14 yards took a deflection off Garcia and the ball just went wide of the far post, with Moya already beaten, Atletico then holding on for a vital victory.

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