Author: luke

Santi Cazorla hit twice in the second half to give Arsenal a comfortable if unspectacular victory over Fulham. It was another indifferent performance from the Gunners but the team had more than enough to see off a Fulham team that has struggled this season, especially away from home. While the fans in the Emirates would love to see Arsenal at full flow, there are encouraging signs to be taken from a team not playing to its full potential but still winning.

Indeed, in many respects Arsenal never had to get out of first gear as Fulham represented an easy target, with the Cottagers never claiming a win in any competition at Arsenal. However, it was a frustrating first half for the players as they struggled to complete their usual fluent style of passing. Although, with Fulham barely registering a threat during the first 45 minutes, Arsenal were content to have the most of possession and await an opportunity.

… That came in the second half as Arsenal emerged with much more impetuous, going close when Jack Wilshere combined with Mesut Ozil to put the German international through down the right side of the penalty area. Ozil sent a scuffed shot wide of the flailing arms of Fulham stopper Maarten Stekelenburg only to see Brede Hangeland (back after a four month layoff) clear the danger.

Arsenal continued to press but were met by a determined group of Fulham players, with Oliver Giroud blasting over when presented with a chance on the edge of the box. Fulham only offered the odd foray forward, such as a Steve Sidwell volley that forced an acrobatic save from Wojciech Szczesny. Despite that reminder, Arsenal were in control and the Emirates faithful could sense a goal coming.

The breakthrough came in the 57^th minute when the impressive Cazorla was the recipient of some neat work by Wilshere and Giroud. The Spaniard collected the ball from Giroud in a busy area and drilled a low shot into the bottom right corner to give the home team the lead and to calm any nerves emanating around the Emirates.

The lead was doubled five minutes later when Nacho Monreal´s cross was headed away by Burn, but the clearance could only find the feet of Cazorla. The midfielder wasted no time in driving a quality shot low into the Fulham net to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead after 62 minutes. While Fulham pressed sporadically to get back into the game Arsenal spent the last half hour or the match hunting a third, although it never came.

The Gunners helped themselves to a routine away win over Aston Villa on Monday evening to reclaim the top spot in the Barclays Premier League. A quick-fire first half double put Arsenal in control and despite a late rally from Villa the team saw out the match and came away with three points.

Arsene Wenger has not tasted defeat at Villa Park since 1998 but had to endure an indifferent second half from his troops as they made tough work of an Aston Villa team in woeful home form. Having said that, the Gunners were not unduly worried by the home team during the opening 45-minutes as Wozniak Szczesny had little to do. Bacary Sagna had plenty of space down the right in the early exchanges and whipped in some dangerous looking balls that ultimately came to nothing, despite Oliver Giroud glancing one header beyond the post.

Villa were feeding off scraps and had yet again set up on the counter attack at home. Relying on pace the home team was mostly cut out when breaking forward, although Fabian Delph did drive a shot wide of the Arsenal goal and Karim El Ahmadi volleyed over to give the North London club a timely reminder that the game was still in the balance. Villa´s Nathan Baker took a Gnabry shot full in the face and lay idle on the floor as medics attended to him, stopping the game for six minutes. The news is good for Baker as he has concussion and went to hospital as a precaution.

Arsenal finally made a breakthrough on the 34^th minute with a well worked goal. Mesut Ozil cut the Villa defense with a quality pass that found Nacho Monreal down the left and the Spaniard in turn found Jack Wilshere in the area. The England man controlled neatly and clinically found the bottom corner to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead.

The match had barely restarted when Arsenal doubled their lead thanks to Wilshere´s lofted ball to Giroud. The Frenchman grabbed his 12^th goal of the campaign with a tidy finish into the roof of the net to give the Gunners a 2-0 advantage after 45 minutes.

In the second half the game continued in the same vein but now Villa looked more dangerous on their forays forward, but Arsenal remained a goal threat at the other end. Monreal was cut out in timely fashion by Villa captain Ron Vlaar but was hurt in the challenge and was replaced by Kieran Gibbs after trying to shake off the problem.

Villa´s danger man Christian Benteke was having a quiet night but on the 74^th minute the Belgian pounced to claw one back for the hosts and to make the last 25 minutes tight. A bouncing awkward cross from Matt Lowton was met by a diving Benteke who headed into the far post to give Villa hope. The game went into another gear as the tempo went up and so did the tension, with Villa pursuing a second goal but unable to get it as Arsenal held on to take the points and 1^st place in the league.