Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal: 5 Talking Points
A professional Arsenal side ended their week with a third win in the span of eight days as they beat strugglers Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park. An early penalty from striker Olivier Giroud and a counter attacking strike from Aaron Ramsey was enough for the Gunners to see off the not-so threatful Aston Villa side.Arsenal displayed a rare defensive side of their game in the second half to keep their first cleansheet of the Premier League since they beat Swansea City 3-0 on 31st October. The win puts the Gunners into pole position, leading City and Leicester (who have a game in hand) by a solitary point.Here are the major talking points from the game at Villa Park:
#1 Arsenal go top of the table
Arsenal cruised to the top of the table with this routine victory as they took an eight-minute lead from a penalty by Olivier Giroud after Alan Hutton held back Theo Walcott. The visitors doubled their lead in the 38th minute after Mesut Ozil had squared the ball to Aaron Ramsey to tuck in after the Welshman earlier robbed the ball off Veretout.
The standout performer for the visitors was again Mesut Ozil. The German midfield magician produced his 14th assist of the season with a clever, unselfish pass to Ramsey to net Arsenal’s second. Earlier this season his contribution against Spurs was the sixth game in a row in which he had assisted a goal, breaking the record for the most consecutive assists in a Premier League season.
Another factor for the Gunners was the performance of Ramsey and Giroud. The duo who was influential midweek against Olympiacos as well were key to the victory again. Ramsey has been the key player for Arsenal. The 6 games that the Welshman missed for the Gunners, he saw his team lose 3 of them, winning only two. But since his return, things have changed for the better for Arsenal.
Giroud who has continued his goalscoring run, has been winning over more fans.
The win meant that with 16 games played, the Gunners are now top of the table with a tally of 33 points, one more than Manchester City’s and Leicester City’s 32 points.