Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal – Premier League – 13th December 2015
Arsenal went top of the table after a comfortable win away to bottom side Aston Villa, with midweek Champions League hero Oliver Giroud and Aaron Ramsey both getting on the scoresheet for the Gunners.
Facing his old side, Villa boss Remi Garde would have been expecting a difficult afternoon and things got off to a bad start for the hosts, when Alan Hutton was adjudged to have pulled back Theo Walcott in the box. Giroud converted the resulting spot-kick to make it 50 goals in the Premier League for the hunky French hitman. Scott Sinclair was doing his best to spark the Villans into life but on 38 minutes, Aaron Ramsey netted (via another Mesut Ozil assist) after a superb break.
In the second period, the Gunners sat back, with Villa testing the Gunners’ backline and Petr Cech more than once. The game opened up late on, with both sides pushing forward. However, in the end, the visitors were well worth the three points, with Ramsey a standout performer in a central midfield berth. The result also saw Cech equal David James’ record of 169 clean sheets.
While Arsenal go top, a point clear of Manchester City and Leicester City (who play Chelsea tomorrow), Villa stay rooted to the bottom, eight points off safety with relegation looking increasingly likely.
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