Mesut out of the shadows
MESUT OZIL ended his personal goal drought to make a belated contribution to the ‘Wenger In’ campaign.
Arsenal’s first Premier League win since February 11 came courtesy of Ozil’s first goal since December 10. And the German, whose languid skills often seem to going missing when the going gets tough, set up Theo Walcott for the second with a trademark assist, with substitute Olivier Giroud supplying a solo third.
That was exactly what manager Arsene Wenger, below, had been waiting for, and transferred some of the pressure to West Ham counterpart Slaven Bilic, who has now seen his side lose its past five matches.
The victory lifted the Gunners above Manchester United to fifth to revive hopes of Champions League football again. However, there is still a lot for Wenger to do if he is to prove to the majority of fans who sit in the ‘Wenger Out’ camp that he is still the best man for the job.
Wenger’s pre-match mood was not improved by injury ruling out goalkeepers Petr Cech and David Ospina, with Emiliano Martinez given a rare Premier League outing.
The Frenchman would not have wanted reminding of the most recent occasion when the Argentinian had to play in the league – a 3-2 defeat at Stoke in December 2014 that saw Wenger abused by angry fans as the team boarded the train back to London.
Laurent Koscielny was also missing through injury after the skipper was forced off at halftime of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City. However, this time, the captain’s armband was passed on to a team-mate, with Walcott leading the hosts.
The Hammers should have tested Martinez in the eighth minute when Hector Bellerin tripped Michail Antonio on the edge of the area but Manuel Lanzini’s free-kick was too high.
Mark Noble fired wide to suggest the lethargic Gunners were there for the taking and the away fans, despite having seen four defeats before this one, plus a vote of confidence from the board for Bilic, were in noisy party mode.
Walcott thumped a reply at Darren Randolph and referee Martin Atkinson angered the home support by ruling no penalty when Arthur Masuaku seemed to bring down Walcott.
Danny Welbeck should have put Arsenal ahead from Alexis Sanchez’s clever free-kick but the striker, having nipped in behind, swung a left leg but failed to connect.
Walcott then blasted another chance wide as the clock ticked ever closer to a season of Europa League football.
Despite sustained pressure from the Gunners, the Hammers hung on until the break with Jose Fonte blocking Bellerin’s shot and James Collins throwing himself in the way of Mohamed Elneny’s follow-up.
Arsenal finally made the breakthrough in the 58th minute with Ozil drilling Fonte’s poor clearance beyond Randolph, who may have been distracted by Welbeck and Sanchez in front of him and seemingly offside.
The Gunners were relentless and Walcott made it 2-0, with Ozil supplying the cross from the left after a neat one-two with Alexis.
The Hammers finally forced Martinez into a save as Lanzini burst through, but that was a red herring as Arsenal substitute Giroud cut inside to plant a cracker past Randolph seven minutes from time.