THis rtesult never really looked in doubt once Arsenal had taken an early lead away to struggling Aston Villa and despite some signs of fatigue in the second half, quite understandable after a long and tiring midweek trip to Greece, the Gunners got the jod done quite comfortably and finish the weekend right where we want to be, on top of the Premier League table.
There was some confusion about the award of a penalty after seven minutes and Villa seemed to feel hard done by but replays show that it was definitely the right call and the only thing the ref did wrong was to not book Hutton for the foul on Walcott. It was a great run and touch from Theo to get on to a great long ball from Flamini and Giroud capped his great week with a cool finish from the spot.
Arsenal dominated the rest of the half without making too many real chances, until we carved open the home team again. The excellent Aaron Ramsey started and finished the move and Mesut Ozil grabbed another assist with a very unselfish pass when he could well have scored himself.
On the stroke of halftime we saw a super finish from Walcott but he was rightly called offside. In the second half we looked a bit weary and a few bits of sloppy play at the back gave Villa some hope but the Gunners rode it out well and made a few chances to really kill the game off.
Arsenal will be more than happy with a win and a clean sheet though. We ARE top of the league. Now can we stay there?