Wizardry of Ozil puts Arsenal on road to recovery
MESUT OZIL delivered a masterclass to inspire a brilliant Arsenal fightback and prove he is worth the big bucks after all.
Ozil scored, provided an assist for one of the best goals you will see all season and also produced one of the best passes.
Even two-goal supersub PierreEmerick Aubameyang was put firmly in the shade by his brilliance.
If this is what you get from giving Ozil the captain’s armband, then maybe they should just go ahead and make him Arsenal skipper on a permanent basis.
The Gunners gave him a £350,000-a-week contract in January and there have been times since then when it looks as if he has switched off.
But Ozil was a magical, brilliant man of the match last night – plus he showed he was worth every penny because he just oozed class. When he finally went off, he was substituted to a standing ovation.
Arsenal’s fabulous fightback from going a goal down lifted the roof off the Emirates as Unai Emery’s men made it 10 straight wins in all competitions.
And when they are playing such fluid, beautiful football then maybe they can be Premier League title contenders after all.
On the day former manager Arsene Wenger celebrated his 69th birthday, it was a performance that rolled back the years to the glory days.
Comebacks and strong second halves have been a feature of this remarkable winning run that says much about Arsenal’s determination and spirit.
Leicester were much the better team at the start, their pace and lightning counter-attacks were too much for Arsenal’s frail defence. ❑ FORTY-FOUR football clubs and 171 players are having their tax affairs investigated by HM Revenue & Customs.
More than £330million has been clawed back in tax revenue from the football industry since 2015-16 and the latest numbers mark a sharp increase from September last year, when HMRC were probing 90 players and 38 clubs.
“We carefully scrutinise the individual arrangements between football clubs and their players,” said HMRC in a statement. “We rigorously enforce the rules and have brought in £332m in extra tax by tackling non-compliance.”