[Player Ratings] Arsenal 5 v 0 Aston Villa: Santi MotM, Özil master class

Arsenal claimed an emphatic 5-0 win at Emirates courtesy of five different goal scorers. Some brilliant work from the Spanish wizard Santi Cazorla and German maestro Mesut Ozil inspired all our goals.

Aston Villa pushed us high up the pitch and allowed us plenty of space which worked wonders with our pace going forward. It’s now 6 matches without a goal for the Villains, they have the worst scoring record out of 92 teams in the top tiers of English football.

Here are the player ratings:

[Ratings out of 10.]

Ospina – 8.0: Absolutely superb save to keep us in the lead before half time and was solid in the air throughout. That’s four clean sheets in a row for the Colombian and he certainly tightened his grip as first choice ‘keeper.

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Bellerin – 8.0: Very good performance from the Spaniard, putting in some good tackles while remaining on his feet. Some decent knocks into the box but most importantly a sensational first goal! Congratulations to the Spaniard.

Mertesacker – 7.5: Solid from the German especially in the air. Nothing got past the BFG in the box.

Koscielny – 7.5: Didn’t have much to do to be honest but put in some timely tackles and good clearances.

Monreal – 7.0: A relatively quiet outing bar a few defensive clearances and a couple wayward crosses. Like many of his defensive team mates had little to do.

Coquelin -7.0: Can’t deny he has passion and commitment but was a little over enthusiastic at times. But his energy was immense and helped us to yet another clean sheet under his belt.

Ramsey 7.0: Some exquisite touches and turns at times from the Welshman however a little rusty. Had a couple good chances but denied by Guzan. Although he’s not yet back to his high flying best, Ramsey put in a shift.

Cazorla – 8.5 (MotM): Harshly adjudged offside when teeing up Ozil and looked his slippery best today. Turning Villa inside out all day, he deserves his place as the No10. Got a bucket load of assists and netted a terribly taken penalty. Although Ozil was awarded the official MotM, Santi gets our vote.

Ozil – 8.5: What a touch from the German for the Giroud opener and heard our calls with his own finish. Just as we were saying it’s time for the record signing to step it up and push on, he doubled our lead with a superb goal. Took a few kicks and rode a few harsh challenges that made him look a little more robust. Danced his way through the Villa defence on a number of occasions – so good to have him back.

Walcott – 7.5: Didn’t seem like it would be the Englishman’s day, he struggled to produce a final product for much of the tie but emphatically cut inside after collecting a Cazorla pass and slotted it beyond Guzan.

Giroud – 7.5: A good, solid outing from the Frenchman. A superbly taken goal when it looked as if he fluffed his lines. His hold up play as important and clinical as ever.

Substitutes

Rosicky (69′) – 6.5: Game was well won when he was introduced but helped keep up the tempo.

Akpom (69′) – 7.0: Excellent pace from the Englishman to win Cazorla’s penalty. Could’ve had his first senior goal although struggled with the header. Bellerin showed him how it’s done however.

Flamini (76′) – N/A: Barely involved after a late introduction.