Although this fixture was described between two sides that are playing in the top tier of English football, Aston Villa showed up to the match under-prepared, as evident from the above score-line.
From that shot off-target by Aaron Ramsey which was the first of many for Arsenal, Arsenal looked brilliant in every department of the game and barring a chance that was created by Villa in the 2nd half, their strike-form was a reminiscence of their poor goal-scoring record this season.
Here are 6 things that we learned from this fixture: –
Arsenal are gunning for a top-4 spot
Since that defeat away at the Britannia Stadium, when the Gunners were left to rue, Arsene Wenger’s men have seemed to wake from deep slumber and today was no different.
Since that defeat at Southampton back at the start of New Year’s Day, the Gunners have won all of their 5 matches scoring 15 goals in the process.
Taking the game from the scruff of its neck from the first minute and putting it to bed on the 65th minute mark when Theo Walcott made the score-line 4-0, Arsenal looked more like a side challenging for a top 4 spot.
Ozil has found his lost touch
Even though the German has played in just 8 games for the Gunners this season, he has been ranked as their 4th best player as per Whoscored.com for a reason.
From that flick at the halfway to set Giroud free on goal in the 1st half to bagging a goal – which is his 2nd of the season – the German looked more like a player whom Arsenal paid 42million pounds for.
And with Alexis Sanchez returning next weekend to add to the misery of Premier League defenses, the emaciated looking German has come back from injury in style.
Santi Cazorla is impeccable
Even though Arsenal has more highly paid players than the Spaniard at the helm, the former Malaga man has been the standout performer for them this season.
Having featured in 27 games in all competitions for the North London side in all competitions, Cazorla has banged in 6 goals so far.
While his position was summoned to be in danger when Arsenal signed Sanchez with Ozil already on his favorite left spot, the injury to his colleague Mesut Ozil has helped Cazorla to showcase his qualities for the Gunners in grand fashion.
Amid all questions regarding his role in the midfield with the return of Ozil, Wenger has devised a way to allocate both of them in starting 11 and his decision is already paying dividends.
Aston Villa’s problems are deep rooted!
While their performance against Arsenal was poor, to say the least, it enshrined the problems Aston Villa is finding themselves in at the moment.
Having not scored in their last 512 minutes of Premier League football, which accounts to almost 6 matches, the Villains are now finding themselves in the battle of relegation which seems a far cry from their form at the start of this season.
Aston Villa hasn’t scored a goal in the Premier League since the mid of December when they held Manchester United with 1-1.
Having won 3 of the first 4 matches of this season under the tutelage of Paul Lambert and Roy Keane, Aston Villa looked like a side going back to their glory days.
Since their win at Anfield back in September when they humbled the Premier League runners-up of last season, the promise is gone – replaced by an uncertainty which isn’t looking to end anytime soon.
Tom Cleverly showed why Manchester United off-loaded him
In the last season of Sir Alex Ferguson when the Scottish preferred Cleverly over Pogba – a decision which saw the end of the latter’s career at Old Trafford -, many would have thought that the veteran manager would have seen something which is invisible to the others as Cleverly got a nod over Pogba.
However, like the rare blunders that Sir Alex committed during his 2 decade long managerial tenure at the Old Trafford, Cleverly is looking hell bent to force Manchester United to end their contract with the Englishman.
Coming against a team like Arsenal which has just defeated the reigning Premier League Champions away from home, Paul Lambert would have asked his midfielders to be a bit agile in their approach.
However, tip-toeing the general belief that Manchester United fans share regarding him, Cleverly looked lackluster for the most period of two halves as Arsenal midfielders out-ran him in every department of the game.
From that first Arsenal goal when Ozil was in acres of space to set Giroud free, both Cleverly and Eriksen kicked off a horror show for the traveling fans that ensued for the whole 90 minutes.
However, unlike Eriksen who is a permanent employee of the Villa Park residents, Cleverly has to show some good form to wear the Villa shirt again next season.
Szczesny might be out for long term
Unlike his counterpart Simon Mignolet who earned his place just 2 games after being dropped from the 1st team, Szczesny isn’t looking to return anytime sooner if the form of David Ospina is considered.
In the 3 Premier League matches in which the Colombian has featured this season, Ospina has kept 3 clean sheets. And unlike Szczesny who always looked to falter in big games, it was his performance against Manchester City that allowed Arsene Wenger to plow his faith in the Colombian.
While Aston Villa hadn’t troubled Ospina much today, he was right up to them whenever called upon action.
For example, when the game was 1-0 and Weimann was through on goal for Villa, it was Ospina who saved the blushes of his full backs and kept the score box empty for Aston Villa.
Final Score: Arsenal 5-0 Aston Villa
Barclays Premier League - Arsenal 5-0 Aston Villa: 6 things we learnt as the Gunners ran riot
No comments:
Post a Comment