Arsenal 5-0 Aston Villa: Five of the best from Arsenal as they hammer Villa

Arsenal came into the game looking to maintain their pursuit of Champions League football, after all of their European-challenging rivals won on Saturday. The hosts welcomed back Theo Walcott and Mesut Özil, the former made his first Premier League start in 13 months, while Özil started his first league game since the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in October.

The German midfielder hit the ground running and made an instant impact. His compatriot, Per Mertesacker, launched a clearance forwards and Özil deflty flicked the ball over the head of the onrushing Jose Okore and into the path of Olivier Giroud. The striker latched onto the exquisite touch and raced towards goal, clipping a neat finish over Brad Guzan and into the bottom corner.

Özil continued to impress, he placed the ball into the back of the net to seemingly make it 2-0, but the linesman raised his flag and the goal was adjudged offside. Aston Villa managed to scrape to half-time and found themselves only one goal down. Despite their ability to shut Arsenal out for the best part of 35 minutes, it was clear to see that the rout had begun.

After the half-time break, Villa continued to be unimaginative with possession and were happy for Arsenal to continue to attack with ease. In the 56th minute Giroud was presented the opportunity to play the ball to Özil, as the German accelerated down the left-hand side of the pitch. He latched on to Giroud's pass and simply rolled the ball past the helpless Guzan and watched it roll into the bottom corner.

Paul Lambert signalled for Gabriel Agbonglahor and new signing Scott Sinclair to enter the fray, but it was a case of too little too late. Before pair could even come on Theo Walcott made it 3-0.

Villa's surprisingly high defensive line was once again caught out as David Ospina launched a counter attack after claiming a rare Villa corner. The Colombian 'keeper launched the ball towards Walcott, who found himself in acres of space on the left-channel and he darted forward before playing a pass inside to Cazorla. The winger continued his run and Cazorla played a sublime pass through the middle to pick him out. Despite running at an electrfying pace, his touch was perfect and enabled him to find space on the edge of the box. Walcott then had a glance at goal and unleashed a fierce shot past Brad Guzan, much to the delight of the onlooking Roy Hodgson.

Cazorla’s dead-ball ability punished Villa further after 75 minutes. Chuba Akpom sprinted into the box and beat Okore with ease, but was then felled by Guzan. Cazorla stepped up with the chance to score a fifth consecutive penalty. Guzan was able to get a hand to the spot-kick but was unable to keep out the powerful shot from the PFA Fans Player of the Month.

Guzan was then beaten again shortly before the full-time. Cazorla was once again involved as he rolled the ball across to Bellerin, who expertly placed his shot in off the post.

The humiliation and misery continues for Villa, who have now failed to score a single goal in over 10 hours of Premier League football. Arsene Wenger will be delighted with his squad as they performed to the top level to punish their petty opponents and gain valuable ground on their European rivals.