Match report – By the numbers – Player ratings – Video

An Arsenal side unchanged from the one which drew 0-0 with Chelsea in its last game drew level with Man City on points after a fine 3-1 over Hull last night. The home side caused us problems in the fixture at the Emirates in October, this time around there was no repeat of that and, frankly, we could, and should, have scored more.

The game settled into its pattern very quickly; Arsenal with lots of the ball, Hull physical and, when they did get it, looking to whip dangerous crosses in. There were a couple of early moments when Ospina looked like he might be a little troubled, and they did fluff one decent chance, but generally we controlled them well.

Aaron Ramsey got flattened by Tom Huddlestone who somehow managed to boot him in the shin, the Achilles and the knee all in one go, and it looked as if he might have to go off. However, he stayed on to make a telling contribution.

After Ozil robbed the lumbering Huddlestone, Alexis took off towards goal and was brought down by Livermore who was perhaps lucky to escape a second yellow having already been booked for an earlier foul on the Chilean. Alexis stepped up, and took the free kick which skimmed off Michael Dawson’s head and into the net. A former Sp*rs trio playing a part in our opening goal. Lovely.

A few moments later it was 2-0. Santi Cazorla spotted Ramsey’s run and pinged the ball left-footed 50 yards precisely to where the Welshman was going to be.

The first touch was delicious, allowing him to turn, and although the shot was almost blocked it looped up and in with the keeper stranded. The pass from Cazorla was sublime, the desire of Ramsey to make something happen worthy of the goal, and it brought him into double figures for the season.

Ramsey then turned provider after more Arsenal pressure in midfield saw Hull lose it, Ozil fed him, he spotted the run of Alexis and slipped the ball perfectly behind the defender and into the path of his teammate. Having just missed a chance when Cazorla split the Hull defence open, this time he rounded the keeper and rolled the ball into the empty net to make it 3-0.

The second half was more of the same with Arsenal content to pass it around, playing keep-ball for minutes on end, but it was the home side that got the next goal. I thought it was a foul on Koscielny in the build-up, but play went on and Stephen Quinn headed home well.

This sparked some hilarious hyperbole on Sky with Alan Parry declaring that we could feel the belief spread around the ground but, seriously, nobody was fooled. I understand they have to at least try and make it sound like a contest, but it wasn’t. Although there was another header from McShane which flew not too far over the bar, that was more or less it from Hull for the rest of the game.

We played in a way which made you feel like if we wanted to, we could step it up, and some of the combination play was sublime at times. The Ozil flick was a thing of genuine beauty, but there were other deft touches and interplay that were just gorgeous to watch – Per’s automatisms in full effect.

Jack Wilshere came on for Ramsey in the 68th minute and played like a man who knows he’s got to make an impact if he wants to get back into the side. One searing burst through the centre of their midfield saw him flattened on the edge of their box and while it’s not unusual to hear criticism of Wilshere for holding onto the ball too long, why is that not aimed more at the players whose only method of stopping him is the foul?

Jack could have got on the scoresheet himself when fine work down the right and a keeper’s hand saw the ball fall to him 8 yards out. His goal-bound effort was clearly blocked by an arm and it ought to have been a penalty. Another run into the area ended up with him being pushed over, but was nothing given then either. Still, it was an auspicious cameo from Wilshere who, hopefully, is responding to the competition for places in the best way possible.

There was a chance for late sub Theo Walcott to apply some gloss to the scoreline, but he clipped the ball wide from close range when he really should have scored. Nevertheless, the win was comprehensive, the performance polished and professional, and the confidence with which this team is playing now is apparent.

Afterwards, Arsene Wenger said:

I’m very happy with the performance because we had a fluent game, [we were] pacey, created many chances. The amazing thing is that the [first] two goals we scored were deflections and the clear cut chances we had we didn’t score. Overall, you can see we have a good dynamic in the team and that our game was very good.

And on Alexis hitting his 23rd and 24th goals of the season:

Yes [I’m surprised], because I expected him to be more of a provider than a goal scorer. Especially as well because I play him on the flank where you have less chances. He has the timing and the quality of his runs are very good. He gets into good areas to finish.

He’s now just two goals off Thierry Henry’s debut season total of 26 and with enough games left, he could well out-do that. But his goalscoring contribution was matched in terms of general performance last night by Cazorla, Ozil and Ramsey who were all fantastic. Defensively we were solid, Coquelin added the bite to midfield as per usual, and this is a team that is currently functioning as well as we could hope for.

We’re now 10 games unbeaten in the Premier League: 9 wins, 1 draw, 18 goals scored, 6 conceded. It’s the kind of form people expected from this team for the duration of the season, not just the second half of it, but at least it’s proof that we are capable of it and the challenges now are a) to keep it up until the end of this campaign and b) continue it next season, right from the start.

We now have another football free weekend to look forward to as we don’t play Swansea until next Monday night, but it’s a small price to pay if we can repeat this kind of performance at home next week.

James and I will have the Arsecast Extra for you this morning. If you have questions or topics for discussion, please send the to @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra. That’ll be ready for you before lunch-time, so keep an eye out for the alerts.

Until then.