Just as expected, Arsenal began the first half with a bit of caution just to make sure that we were not left chasing the game as we had to in the final last season. But Aston Villa never really looked like scoring once, never mind twice, and so the Gunners soon got into our stride.
Arsenal were controlling the game with the passing and movement of Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Alexis and Ramsey and we were always looking to get the speedy Walcott in behind the Villa defence. The first really good chance came from a Koscielny header but Given made a smart save.
The Gunners kept coming though and Villa were just starting to look like they might make it to the break all square after an amazing block had denied Theo from point blank range and Ramsey had missed a couple. Up stepped the on fire England striker though and there was nothing Given or the defenders could do to stop Walcott’s powerful and controlled strike.
By this time Arsenal were completely dominant and with Szczesny and the back four looking sharp and strong, with Coquelin playing an absolute blinder in the deep lying midfield role, showing great technique on the ball as well as his usual defensive work. The only down side was that we only had the one goal.
It only took five minutes of the second half for the second to come though, and what a beauty it was! Monreal helped with an overlap and Alexis jinked inside past his man and unleashed an unstoppable long range strike that swerved in the air giving Given no chance.
Byt the time Mertesacker made it three 12 minutes later from a Cazorla corner we could have had a few more. Arsenal were running rings around Villa and not really giving them any hope around our goal. We did get away with a free kick on the edge of the box and a possible penalty for Grealish late on. There was still time for Arsenal to cap it off with a nicely taken goal from Giroud.
A fantastic game for Arsenal as we won the FA cup for a record 12th time to finish a very encouraging season with a BANG!