Match report – By the numbers – Player ratings – Video
Well, that was much more like it. Villa were blown away with a four minute spell of awesomeness in the first half, were allowed no way of getting back into the game, and we took home a very valuable, confidence boosting three points.
It looked as if Arsene Wenger tweaked his system slightly, playing Ramsey closer to Arteta, and Mesut Ozil more central and we reaped the rewards of that. There was still something of a post-Dortmund hangover in the opening period though. Our passing and movement was better, but we had Wojciech Szczesny to thank and blame in equal measure for keeping the score level.
In the opening minutes he scuffed a kick which allowed Fabian Delph a shot on goal which the Pole saved, but which gave the home side a few minutes of pressure from a couple of corners. But in the 23rd minute he pulled off a fantastic save to prevent Villa going ahead.
Calum Chambers gave away a free kick on our right hand side, and the defence let the ball sail over their heads like a pair of eejits who traveled all the way from London to Birmingham but got so drunk before kick-off they had to head home before the game even started. Perhaps Ciaran Clark should have done better with the header but Szczesny spread himself in a Schmeichel-esque starfish way, kept the ball out, and on that moment the game turned.
A few minutes later we were ahead. After some patient build-up, Ramsey fed Welbeck who spotted the run of Mesut Ozil and picked him out with a beautiful ball behind Senderos. The German took a couple of touches and simply rolled by the ball past Brad Guzan (who looks like a young version of the old vampire from the original Salem’s Lot movie).
Ozil then returned the favour a minute later. Fed down the inside left channel, he fizzed across the perfect ball for Welbeck to side-foot home from close range for his first Arsenal goal. If you could have chosen the goalscorers today they’d have been top of the list. Two guys who badly needed to produce for various reasons, and they duly obliged. Two clinical finishes, but each with a perfect pass to make the chance in the first place.
With Villa shell-shocked, we went 3-0 up when Sissokho diverted a mishit Gibbs shot into his own net, and inside those four minutes the game was done and dusted. Before the half-time break Ozil had a chance to make it 4-0 while Ramsey lashed a second shot of the day just wide from the same position.
The second half was, let’s be honest, quite dull but I loved it. Every single second. Too often the second half is about wanting Arsenal to respond, to pick up their game, to do more, to be better, but this was simply about controlling the rest of the game and we did that brilliantly. To some it might have been boring or tedious, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching 45 minutes of football without panic or fear.
We bossed the game in terms of possession and territory, and what made it so much fun to watch was the way we did that. We implemented a high press which Villa just couldn’t cope with. Every time they had the ball we harried and chased and forced them into an error which returned the ball to us. At which point we simply passed it around and ground them into submission.
It was great to watch Welbeck drop deep from his forward position to pressure a home player on the ball, just as it was to see Mikel Arteta push up from midfield into their half to do just the same. There was some suggestion afterwards that Villa were suffering because their players had been ill, but regardless of that we obviously had made a plan and executed it perfectly.
They didn’t have a sniff of goal, we prevented them from building any danger, and when you look at the stats and see that in the entire game Agbonlahor completed just four passes (and three of them were from kick-offs), it tells you how effectively we neutralised them.
Afterwards, Arsene said:
It was the response we needed after Tuesday. I believe that the team played well and after that it’s easier for everybody.
He also touched on Mesut Ozil:
I was very pleased he got the goal as quickly as possible. It was important for him to score.
And Danny Welbeck:
I think he had a very good performance today because he kept the ball. Ball retention is important and he had a good all-round game for a central striker.
I think it’s a game from which we can take a lot. Villa had been unbeaten until yesterday, and very solid, we tore them apart in that blinding spell and then worked very hard to stay on top of the game. After a goal and an assist there’ll be less spotlight on Ozil and hopefully that’s the kind of performance that will help spark his season, while the same goes for Welbeck.
Another game without a goal might have increased the pressure on him. Instead he made a decisive contribution – like Ozil an assist and a goal – and it’s good to see two players who are going to be hugely important for us this season look like they’re on the same wavelength.
Overall, a good day out for us and a performance which is much more like the Arsenal we all want to see. Enjoy it.
Till tomorrow.
