World-Class Özil Inspires Arsenal To Top Spot

Match Review: Arsenal 2 Bournemouth 0 - Premier League 28.12.15

So we reach the end of the year and the halfway point of the league at the top of the tree, at least until Leicester play City tonight. After a humbling at Southampton, a home game against Bournemouth was about as kind a game as we could have asked for and the Gunners duly delivered. It was a vital three points and perhaps more importantly, it will be a big confidence boost for some fragile players.

Wenger, probably out of necessity, rotated his team with Flamini, Monreal, Koscielny and Campbell all dropping to the bench and Chambers, Gibbs, Gabriel and Chamberlain replacing them. Chambers started as the more defensive midfielder, playing the position for only the second time in his career with the first outing coming as a substitute in a defeat at Southampton on Boxing Day…

It’s fair to say we started nervously. There was not a lot between the two teams for the first 25 minutes and chances were at a premium, in fact Bournemouth probably came the closest before their Achilles heel sunk them again. The newest team to the Premier League have conceded the most goals from set pieces and it’s not difficult to see why. Özil whipped in a lovely corner to the edge of the six yard box and Gabriel, a player who would have been towards the bottom of my likely first goalscorer list, lost his man with ease and powered a header into the corner. It was Gabriel’s first goal since joining us from Villarreal almost a year ago and after a fairly mixed start to his Arsenal career, he was clearly delighted to get on the scoresheet.

The goal also marked Mesut Özil’s sixteenth assist of the season, only four away from equalling Henry’s Premier League record with a whole half of the season to go. Frustratingly for him, it wasn’t even his best ball of the day, not even close. The German had a quiet game at Southampton, but was back to his magnificent best against Bournemouth and by the end of the game he’d created nine clear chances, an Arsenal record only matched by Hleb at Newcastle back in 2006. While we’re looking at stats, it’s also worth noting that only three of the sixteen assists Özil has notched have come from set pieces and that only three of the sixteen have taken more than one touch to finish. He’s genuinely putting these goals on a plate for his teammates.

It was fitting then that it was Özil who finished the game off. He’d had to watch most of his chances being spurned, in particular by Theo Walcott, so he showed his teammates how to finish. He did almost all the work himself too, going on a little run before laying it off to Giroud who pulled off another one of his signature gorgeous flicks over the top. Özil calmly chested the ball down and nonchalantly rolled the ball under the keeper. Bournemouth pressured us a bit towards the end and by no means rolled over for us, but all in all, it was the comfortable victory we both needed and deserved.

I’ll stress again, this victory and performance was absolutely vital for us. The confidence visibly returned to the players when the first goal went in and suddenly the entire performance lifted, there was more energy and desire. The spanking we got at Southampton threatened to derail us, but having bounced back immediately and put it behind us, it could be the wake up call this group needed. They are not going to cruise to the title, we are not going to roll over every team that is put in front of us and there can be no room for complacency. If they don’t know that now, they never will. Arsenal can win the league title, but only if they are willing to fight tooth and nail for it. We have a really tough period coming up where we face Liverpool and Stoke away, before Chelsea at home. In those three games, we might just see whether this group have the stomach for this title challenge.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Gibbs (Monreal 82’), Chambers (Y), Ramsey (Y), Chamberlain (Iwobi 93’), Özil, Walcott, Giroud (Campbell 80’)
Subs
Ospina, Debuchy, Koscielny, Monreal, Campbell, Iwobi, Reine-Adelaide

Bournemouth (4-5-1)
Boruc, Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Surman, Ritchie, Gosling (O'Kane 61'), Arter, Pugh (Stanislas 45'), King (Murray 80')
Subs
Rantie, Stanislas, Fedirici, Tomlin, Distin, Murray, O'Kane

Player Ratings

Cech - 10/10 - A 10/10 for cementing his place in Premier League history as a Gooner
Bellerin - 7/10 - Looked a lot better than in recent games, but needs to cross much better
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Solid showing apart from a hilarious miss in the first half
Gabriel - 8/10 - Excellent defensively and at corners, could have had two or three
Gibbs - 7/10 - A really encouraging performance after a spell of terrible form
Chambers - 8/10 - Very impressive, showing some great potential in multiple positions
Ramsey - 7/10 - Looked a little tired but put in a good shift
Walcott - 6/10 - Left his finishing boots at home it seemed, could have had a hat-trick
Özil - 10/10 - The best player in the league, by a distance
Chamberlain - 7/10 - Like Gibbs, encouraging after some poor form
Giroud - 7/10 - Scrapes a seven thanks to a brilliant assist
Subs
No subs played long enough to rate

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