BURNLEY 1
ARSENAL 3
The Arsenal boss offered an olive branch to the ex-germany international, even making him skipper for the day.
A failure to command a berth in the 18-men named for the Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat to Spurs in midweek left big questions over Ozil’s future.
The playmaker was his usual enigmatic self, flitting in and out with the occasional moment of brilliance, interspersed with long periods where it was a struggle to see him on the pitch. Still, his manager was happy. Emery said: “It was a very good response from Mesut. He was the kind of player we needed today.
“His skills and commitment were good. He helped us. We need him. He was great for us.”
That was clearly overstating the case because the truth is that it was Aubameyang who came up trumps on a day when passions almost spilled over. The striker – who leapt to the top of the Premier League goalscoring charts with a typically clinical double – only poured salt on to the very open wounds of Burnley boss Sean Dyche (above), who was upset about what he felt were high levels of diving.
Asked if he had ever played in a game as tough, Aubameyang said: “Wow, never! It was a hard game. It was a physical, tough battle. But we won and I think the whole team had a good game.”
Arsenal got off to a flier and it was Ozil who showed the way to goal with a pass that only he possesses the ability to deliver.
Some intricate play on the right-hand side of the box ended with the playmaker curling a ball to the far post where Sead Kolasinac dragged it back into the danger zone from the byline.
Aubameyang was waiting to deliver the killer blow with the outside of his right foot.
But the Clarets clung on gamely until half-time – striker Ashley Barnes was enjoying a running battle with Sokratis that looked certain to end in a red card for one of them. As it was,