Ozil stars

Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal

Arsenal put their midweek defeat to Dortmund behind them on Saturday with a comprehensive victory away to Aston Villa, restoring confidence.

The home side came into this game on a fine run of form, having just defeated Liverpool at Anfield with an excellent display of defensive solidity and counter attacking prowess. Such tactics it seemed would serve them well against an Arsenal side that had so far struggled to achieve a fluidity to their attacking play and as always appeared vulnerable at the back.

Villa were in the ascendancy during the opening 25 minutes as the Gunners struggled to get into the game and could have taken the lead as they fashioned two very good goal scoring opportunities. First Fabian Delph almost capitalised on a poor clearance from Szczesny, firing a shot from just outside the box and forcing the goalkeeper to make a fine stop to deny him. Then the Gunners once again showed their weakness at defending set pieces. Already this season Arsenal have conceded far too many goals from crosses into the box and Kieran Clark really should have added to that tally having been left completely unmarked at the back post from a Villa free kick. Fortunately for Arsenal, Clark headed the ball straight at Szcsesny, but Wenger surely must address this glaring deficiency in his side. If the Frenchman fails to do so, his team will drop plenty of points unnecessarily.

Wenger’s infamous stubbornness has been evident in many ways already this season, but one of the most frustrating has been his decision to deploy Mesut Ozil out wide time and time again which has seemed to affect the German’s confidence as he struggles to get into the game from this position and affect proceedings in a positive manner. Against Dortmund, Ozil was largely anonymous with one German newspaper giving him the lowest score possible. Yet at Villa Park on Saturday, Wenger rested Wilshere which allowed the manager to move Ozil into his favoured number 10 role, just behind the striker. It made a huge difference too. Suddenly the German, who can appear lethargic at times, was supremely energised. When deployed out wide he doesn’t seem to have the desire to chase back, but from this central position, his movement was much improved, drifting into space and always showing for the ball, this was the Ozil Arsenal had hoped to see when they signed him for a club record fee. It seems illogical to spend so much money on a player and then consistently deploy him out of position.

Ozil was at the centre of the Gunners attacking moves and opened the scoring in the 33^rd minute following an excellent passing move. Welbeck dropped deep to pick the ball up from Oxlade-Chamberlain and as he did so, Ozil moved forward to receive a perfectly weighted pass from Welbeck, in behind the Villa defence, sending the German through on goal. Given his poor start to the season so far, it would have been easy for Ozil to fluff his lines, scuff his shot and miss the chance. However he showed his class by taking a touch before calmly sliding the ball under Guzan and into the net. It was a moment of great relief and should now take a lot of pressure off his shoulders enabling him to play his game in a more composed and assured manner.

A minute later Arsenal doubled their lead, with Ozil and Welbeck heavily involved once again. As the German found space on the left flank, Welbeck peeled off his marker at the back post and was in the perfect position to score his first Arsenal goal, thanks to an excellent cross from Ozil to pick out his man. This was another goal which should serve to instil confidence and remove a certain amount of pressure. When signing for a new team it is vitally important for a striker to open his account as soon as possible. Welbeck had great chances to do so against both Man City and Dortmund but failed to take them. Fortunately, he made no mistake against Villa and should now have greater confidence when in front of goal. The Englishman’s link up play on Saturday was also much improved as he gains an understanding with his new teammates and he is fast becoming an excellent addition to the squad with his tremendous work rate being second to none.

Having scored two goals in the space of a minute, the Gunners were not done yet and the ball was in the back of the Villa net once again in the 35^th minute to round off a remarkable period of play. As Cazorla’s effort was blocked, the ball fell to Kieran Gibbs on the edge of the box and the left back’s attempted shot flew across the box with Cissokho’s attempted clearance at the back post going into the net for an own goal.

The game was effectively over and the second half was largely a non-event. Villa, despite being three goals down, made absolutely no attempt to get themselves back in the game, as they seemed set on damage limitation instead, deploying all their players inside their own half. Arsenal had no real reason to push forward and leave themselves open at the back and as a result were content to just pass the ball amongst each other. As a result, at one stage in the second half the Gunners had enjoyed 80% possession and the game petered out.

This was a job well done by Arsenal. Following the defeat to Dortmund this was a very tricky game to manage and Wenger’s men did so extremely well. All the other sides involved in Europe this week dropped points, highlighting just how difficult it is to balance European football with Premier League success. The Gunners must work on their defending from set pieces however as this has so far been their Achilles heel and could have proved costly here once again. The League Cup tie at home to Southampton now offers the opportunity to rest certain players and regroup after a very busy start to the season following the Champions League qualifying tie against Besiktas. This also comes at a good time in the season as Arsenal now face both Tottenham and Chelsea next in the league with Gunners fans hoping they can carry forward their attacking fluidity into these big games.