1. Arsenal’s form could spark a big finish to the season
Arsene Wenger admitted after the game that the gap at top of the table may be too big for Arsenal to go on and win the title this season but there is no denying the fact that everything is finally falling into place for them.
The Gunners have convincingly won five games on the spin while keeping clean sheets in four of those games, including the one at Manchester City. Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny are back after injuries and Wenger’s decisions to bring in goalkeeper David Ospina and Francis Coquelin, who has added bite in midfield, have provided stability in the team.
Considering that Arsenal were without their player of the season so far Alexis Sanchez when they fired five past what started as the fifth best defence in the league, they can dare to dream of not just a comfortable top-four finish but also going deep in the Champions League and the FA Cup.
2. This was another heavy punishment on for stubborn Paul Lambert
After Aston Villa suffered a heavy defeat in the reverse fixture by trying to outplay Arsenal, it was surprising that Lambert went for the same approach. Arsenal welcomed the naivety from the Villans again as virtually all the goals came from quick transitional plays, just like in the previous meeting between the sides at Villa Park.
3. Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil share the baby theme as they celebrated completing their returns from the sidelines
Ozil and Walcott have been eased back into action for a while now from long-term injuries but they needed the good performances they produced in this contest to further their mental recovery, and both starred in this one-sided contest.
Theo Walcott invited ninth-month-old son Finley along to his first league start in 13 months and was able to mark the occasion with a goal, while Ozil also scored and weighed in on the baby theme by dedicating his goal to his niece with a thump-sucking celebration.
4. Aston Villa need to work on their passing or revert back to direct football
Lambert was adamant that his side deserved more from the game and he may be supported by the statistics as the Villans enjoyed more possession, but the scoreline was a fair reflection of the game as Villa offered little offensively and were open at the back.
They struggled to create anything meaningful for Christian Benteke because they lost possession each time they tried clever passes, particularly between the middle-third and the final-third.
Lambert needs his side to play with a better range of passing because they will not trouble any side with short, sideways passes. If these players cannot implement that then they have to mix their play with the counter-attacking football that brought them lots of goals last season.
Insisting on playing out from the back may flatter the Villans with greater possession statistics but they will continue to struggle for goals because they hardly create good chances.
5. Ciaran Clark and Jores Okore will have plenty of lessons from this defeat
Aston Villa came into this game with the fifth tightest defence in the league in terms of goals scored and their central defenders Okore and Clark played a key role in that success because of their form.
This game though presented those centre-halves with a unique challenge as they were supposed to keep a high defensive line against quick incisive forwards who had the backing of quality midfielders.
There were instances in the build-up to Arsenal’s goals when Okore and Clark could have made better decisions in terms of when to drop back and earn a yard against a forward and when to get tight or play offside.
Criticising them for this defeat though maybe harsh as the finest central defenders like Vincent Kompany needed a lot of experience playing with a high line to become more comfortable in defending the threats that come from that approach.
