Arsenal responded to midweek
criticism with a 3-0 thrashing of
Aston Villa in the Premier League on
Saturday inspired by record signing
Mesut Ozil.
Ozil scored one and created another for Danny
Welbeck as the visitors struck three goals in four
minutes before halftime to end the hosts' unbeaten
start in emphatic fashion.
The Germany midfielder produced a cool finish after
32 minutes from Welbeck's pass, then returned the
compliment as Welbeck opened his Gunners
account.
An own goal by Villa's Aly Cissokho ended the game
as a contest after 36 minutes.
Southampton's impressive start to the season
continued as they won 1-0 at Swansea City, who
played more than half the match with 10 men after
Wilfried Bony was red-carded.
Victor Wanyama's 80th-minute goal moved Saints
into second place with 10 points, two behind
Chelsea who face champions Manchester City on
Sunday and a point better off than Arsenal. Villa also
have 10 points.
Newcastle United fans held up hundreds of posters
calling for manager Alan Pardew to be sacked but
two goals from Papiss Cisse enabled the home side
come from two down against Hull City to draw 2-2
and move off the bottom.
A sensational Nikica Jelavic volley and a thumping
strike from Mohamed Diame had put Hull in control.
Niko Kranjcar's superb late free kick rescued a
point for Queens Park Rangers in an entertaining
2-2 draw at home to Stoke City and Burnley drew
0-0 at home to Sunderland.
Later on Saturday Liverpool are away at West Ham
United.
There was no sign of what was to come at Villa Park
in the opening half an hour and it was the home side
who almost struck first when Ciaran Clark's header
was superbly saved by Arsenal keeper Wojciech
Szczesny.
But Ozil, playing in his favoured role just behind
striker Welbeck, lit the touchpaper for an
exhilarating spell of football by the Londoners.
Welbeck played a perfect through ball and Ozil
made no mistake with a cool side-foot finish.
Ozil's inviting cross was then struck high into the
net by a relieved Welbeck, who wasted several
chances against Dortmund in midweek.
Villa, who had not won any of their previous 15
home matches against Arsenal, were shellshocked
and fell further behind a minute later when Cissokho
diverted a Kieran Gibbs cross shot into his own net.
"I'm particularly pleased to get off the mark. It was
a good team performance," Welbeck said.
"They had their chances but when we took our first
one we looked in control of the game."
No comments:
Post a Comment