Gunners cruise to the top

Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal 

Arsenal rounded off an excellent week by rising to the top of the Premier League table for twenty four hours at least, after a comfortable win against Aston Villa.

Following the mid week win against Olympiacos in which the Gunners expended so much effort, this was always going to be a difficult task. After all Wenger could only name the same starting eleven as he had done in Greece and therefore tiredness would definitely prove to be factor as the game wore on.

It was therefore crucial for Arsenal to start the game well and the Gunners did exactly that. With the searing pace of Theo Walcott and Joel Campbell on the wings, Wenger had his side set up perfectly for the counter attack and the Gunners utilised this perfectly. Villa came out of the blocks fairly well and attempted to take the game to the away side, with Scott Sinclair appearing very lively in the opening exchanges but Arsenal took the lead with their first attack.

When Walcott plays on the wing he has the ability to make diagonal runs in behind the opposition defence and if he times his run well and is picked out perfectly, then he is extremely difficult to stop. Villa and in particular Alan Hutton found that out on Sunday after only seven minutes. Aaron Ramsey picked out the run of Walcott with an excellent pass and the Englishman was in behind Hutton, before the former Tottenham man knew what was happening. Hutton attempted to outmuscle Walcott but couldn’t and as the two entered into the penalty area, the right back panicked and dragged the Arsenal man down. It was a clear penalty but for some reason referee Kevin Friend didn’t point to the spot immediately, taking a few seconds before finally awarding the penalty.

Wednesday’s hat trick hero Olivier Giroud stepped up to take the spot kick and as he did in Greece sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.  Taking the lead so early in the match was crucial as Arsenal now didn’t have to chase the game. Villa would have to come out more and more and the Gunners could use their pace to hit them on the break. Arsenal’s second goal showcased counter attacking football at its very best.

As Villa came forward in search of an equaliser before the half time break, Ramsey won possession back for his side with an excellent sliding tackle on the edge of his penalty area. With Villa having committed men forward, the break was on. Ozil played the ball to Walcott and continued his run forward as suddenly Arsenal had three players bearing down on the Villa goal. Walcott’s ball to Ozil was inch perfect and the German engineered some space for himself beautifully with his body shape before utilising his great awareness to pick out Ramsey with a square pass for the Welshman to pass the ball into the net. Ozil took many of the plaudits for notching up his thirteenth assist of the season, more than double of any other player in the league, but Ramsey deserved to get his name on the score sheet having won possession for his side and then showing such desire to burst forward and finish off the move he started.

Arsenal were in an excellent position to take home all three points and although their levels dropped in the second half as Villa came back into the game and had a couple of chances where they will feel they should do better, ultimately the Gunners were comfortable. With the home side rooted to the foot of the table and severely lacking in confidence, Arsenal also weren’t ever really tested and in fact almost caused themselves more problems than the home side could muster. At one point Mertesacker slipped and was almost caught out and then Cech was fortunate to see Gestede slip too as his weak clearance would have otherwise been cut out. But in the end the Arsenal goalkeeper held onto his clean sheet to equal the Premier League clean sheet record and the Gunners were able to secure all three points.

Wenger will be extremely pleased with his side. They showed great hunger, desire and determination throughout the week to first secure the win against Olympiacos and then back up that result with another crucial win away to Aston Villa to maintain their title challenge. Next time out the Gunners will face a far sterner test against Manchester City at home as look to go top of the table at Christmas.

They will at least have a week to rest and recuperate as the last few weeks have been extremely tough and sapping for a squad that is so beset by injury. The focus in the build up to that game will be on whether or not Alexis Sanchez can return to the squad in time. Wenger has declared that his medical team have advised he will be just short but as Wenger himself said Alexis and Alexis, he is a player who has an insatiable appetite for the game and will do all he can to play. However Arsenal must focus on their defensive shape in the week ahead. Bellerin and Monreal’s levels have dropped recently and even an Aston Villa side in such trouble were able to create chances through simple crosses into the box, which another side, one as good as Manchester City, would definitely take and punish them. The central midfield of Flamini and Ramsey also appears to struggle when under pressure, but unfortunately Wenger has no real choice other than to stick with them.

Manchester City will be a real test. If Arsenal come up short, the same old questions will be asked of them. But come through it and the Gunners may just start to believe.