Perfect 10 as Ozil shines for Arsenal
ON ARSENE Wenger’s 69th birthday, Arsenal pulled out the party pieces.
Unai Emery’s team were forced to graft for their 10th consecutive win as Leicester threatened to rip up the script when Ben Chilwell gave them a deserved lead with a shot deflected off Hector Bellerin.
But when Arsenal clicked into gear, they were simply irresistible. Simply unstoppable.
First, Mesut Ozil — captain for the night — levelled before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired Arsenal ahead seconds after entering as a substitute.
And, perhaps, fittingly, their audacious third had Wenger’s stamp all over it. Dummies, one-touch football, passing the ball into the net. Just how Wenger wanted it as Aubameyang fired a second.
But Emery is the man in charge now — and what a fine job he is doing in shaking Arsenal out of the malaise that had engulfed them during the final years of his predecessor’s reign.
Yet Arsenal certainly didn’t start like a team who were searching for a 10th straight win.
Leicester’s relentless pressure eventually told in the 31st minute, Bellerin could only watch as Chilwell seared past him before finishing past Bernd Leno. In Leno’s defence, he was wrong-footed as the England degender’s effort deflected off Bellerin as the Spaniard desperately tried to make up the ground.
Then, on the stroke of half-time, Ozil’s finish was unerring. Left foot, one touch, goal. But the German owed much to Bellerin, whose pass was as accurate as the finish.
Emery threw on Aubameyang in the 61st minute in search of a vital goal. Five minutes later, he had scored twice and Arsenal were heading for 10 wins on the spin. ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 7; Bellerin 7, Mustafi 6.5, Holding 5.5, Lichtsteiner 6 (Aubameyang 61,