Two goals in a minute from Jack Wilshere and then Olivier Giroud allowed Arsenal to brush past Villa and return to the top of the League despite a sticky last 15 minutes.
Villa defended with their lives for the majority of the first half before Mesut Ozil’s pull-back found Wilshere on the edge of the box to prod home an opener.
Then, from the kick off, Wilshere won the ball straight back before chipping through to the Frenchman who cooly finished through the legs of Ron Vlaar.
Arsenal seemed to rest on their laurels and allowed Villa back into the game in the second half, managing to cling on until the 76th minute when Christian Benteke headed home with his first significant involvement.
However Arsene’s men managed to leave Villa Park with the 3 points to extend the unbeaten run at the Midlands club to 15 games.
Player Ratings
Wojciech Szczesny - 6 – quiet but solid performance from the Polish stopper. Only had to deal with the odd palm-stinger and was protected soundly ahead of him. Was helpless as Benteke finished from point blank range for the Villa goal.
Bacary Sagna - 7 – spent a lot of the game playing as a right-winger, rather than a right-back. Whipped in some dangerous crosses, of which Giroud maybe should have made more of. Given time and space to pick his targets and was untroubled largely by the Villa attack, but failed to notice the opposition striker slip between him and Merts. Looked vulnerable whenever he was left 1-on-1 with Benteke as the game hotted up.
Per Mertesacker - 6 – kept Christian Benteke in his pocket for the majority of his game. Considered one of the best strikers in the country aerially, the big Belgian was relatively ineffective as Mertesacker bossed him on the ground as well as in the sky. That was, until he left the Villa man unmarked at the back post for him to nod home late in the second half. The one mistake was punished and the sloppy last 5 minutes could have cost us dear.
Laurent Koscielny - 7 – the 28-game unbeaten duo of Merts and Kosc continues, as we finally seem to have managed hold down a top class defensive pairing. Provideded a bit more pace than his partner and was aware of Benteke’s flick-ons all game, especially with the introduction of Andi Weimann.
Nacho Monreal - 7 – forced off with a tricky looking injury while running at the Villa backline. Although Nacho is a second-choice left back, his solid performances should give Kieran a run for his money unless the injury keeps him out. Just like Sagna, spent most of his time camped in the opposition half and was relentless at pumping balls into the box. His best moment was the pull-back to find Wilshere for the first goal.
Jack Wilshere - 8 – Man of the Match. England fans rejoice as Jack ran the show and left with a goal and an assist to his name. The midfield pivot throughout the 90 minutes, Jack seemed to be in acres whenever a player in yellow had the ball and was pretty faultless with his passes.
Mathieu Flamini - 7 – largely silent but fulfilled the role he is known for operating so well. Broke up Delph, Westwood and El Ahmadi’s midfield footwork well and was slick in distribution. Someone has to do the ugly work, and Matt did that.
Mesut Ozil - 6 – everyone in the Premier League is aware of the raw ability that Mesut possesses, yet he seemed withdrawn and quiet tonight. Left the intricate play to Santi and Jack and looked to pull wide whenever he could.
Santi Cazorla - 6 – similarly to Mesut, the little Spaniard was quiet but did the job at Villa Park. Nothing too flashy, but it has to be said that the midfield was never quick to surrender possession. Looked shy to shoot from range.
Serge Gnabry - 6 – not as spectacular as the Tottenham outing but certainly provided a new edge to the side. A welcome change to the 5 creative midfielders we usually deploy and added a spark to the game that Theo was beginning to fulfil before his injury. Serge can surely step up to fill his boots, as he showed today.
Olivier Giroud - 7 – played the frontman role excellently but was feeding off scraps for a large segment of the game. Did wonderfully to control Wilshere’s pass, run past two defenders and finish with his left foot in what was arguably the move of the match.
SUBS
Kieron Gibbs - 6 – on return from injury, Gibbs tried his best to influence the game from left-back but was unable to make that much of a difference. Allowed Matthew Lowton time and space to pick out Benteke for 2-1.
Tomas Rosicky - N/a – came on but was forced off with a blooded nose.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - N/a – HE’S BACK!
A tricky performance from the Gunners has showed us how far we’ve come. We now expect our midfield quartet of Wilshere, Cazorla, Ozil and today Gnabry to turn on the style and win every game comfortably, simply because that’s the Arsenal way.
No longer are we pleased with mediocre performances, which could be seen as a positive effect of the club’s development.
It’s a cliché, however sometimes Champions need to win ugly.
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