Arsenal ended their much-maligned campaign on an extremely positive note after a 4-0 hammering of Aston Villa on the final day of the season resulted in the Gunners finishing in 2nd place in the Premier League table on 71 points, after rivals Tottenham Hotspur’s 5-1 capitulation to relegated 10-man Newcastle United meant Spurs finished below Arsenal for the 21st consecutive season.
Olivier opened the scoring in the 5th minute and made the game safe with quickfire strikes in the 79th and 80th minute to complete his hat-trick, Mikel Arteta, playing his final game for Arsenal, had a goal-scoring attempt ricochet off Villa keeper Mark Bunn and nestle into the net in the final minute of normal time to complete the rout.
Here’s how the players rated:
Arsenal
Petr Cech – 6.5/10
The Arsenal shot-stopper didn’t have much to do as Villa barely threatened the Gunners’ goal, but a 16th clean sheet will mean that the Czech veteran will pick up another Golden Glove award.
Hector Bellerin – 8/10
The Spaniard displayed why exactly he made the PFA Team of the Year, with a fantastic performance on the right wing. Full of attacking invention, Bellerin’s exquisite pass for Olivier Giroud resulted in the Frenchman earning his hat-trick with ease.
Gabriel – 6.5/10
The Brazilian wasn’t overtly troubled by Villa but did have a few concerning moments against Jordan Ayew. Not one of his best games, but a performance that was enough to guarantee a shutout.
Laurent Koscielny – 7/10
The Frenchman showed why is Arsenal’s first choice centre-back with a couple of very crucial interventions. He offered some calm alongside a shaky Gabriel, which resulted in the Gunners racking up another clean sheet, making them the 3rd best defence in the Premier League.
Nacho Monreal – 7.5/10
The Spaniard was in fine form throughout, displaying a fine balance between going forward and defending. He created the opening goal with an excellent cross and helped settle a few Arsenal nerves.
Francis Coquelin – 6.5/10
Not the best of games from the French defensive midfielder, as he wasn’t needed to display his defensive skills too often. Coquelin did manage to keep the ball ticking over though, spreading the ball around intelligently.
Santi Cazorla – 8/10
The diminutive Spaniard’s performance in the centre of the park showed exactly why many think Arsenal’s title challenge would have survived if he had stayed fit. Cazorla pinged balls from deep with elan and combined extremely well with the attacking players – he was the oil in the Arsenal machine.
Mesut Ozil – 8/10
The German racked up his 19th league assist of the season with a lovely low cross for Giroud’s second. He played far further upfield than usual and was thus much more involved in the Gunners attacking play, racking up his key passes count as well.
Alexis Sanchez – 7/10
The Chilean was his usual hard-working self and ought to have gotten on the score-sheet, but missed a couple of chances that he would normally bury when in form.
Jack Wilshere – 6/10
The Englishman’s return to the Arsenal starting lineup was cheered by the fans, although he was quiet throughout the game, although there were flashes of his typical dribbling runs.
Olivier Giroud – 9/10
The Frenchman scores in spurts, and having rediscovered his form in front of goal, capped off the season with his first hat-trick for Arsenal in the Premier League. The three goals were typical Giroud first-time finishes, thus putting him on top of the Gunners goal-scoring charts with 24 for the season.
Substitutes:
Mohamed Elneny – 6.5/10
The Egyptian looked tidy in possession when he came on, but spurned a couple of chances to score.
Mikel Arteta – 9/10
A fantastic servant for Arsenal, the Spaniard was emotional when playing for the final time in the red and white shirt, and almost had a dream ending when his shot bounced of Mark Bunn for the fourth goal. That didn’t stop him from celebrating, and nor should it.
Joel Campbell – N/A
The Costa Rican came on with a few minutes left to play and could barely affect the game.
Aston Villa
Mark Bunn – 6/10
There was very little Bunn could do to prevent any of Giroud’s strikes and was unfortunate to score the final own goal, with the ball ricocheting off his back. He denied Arsenal from worsening the scoreline with a couple of fine save.
Jordan Lyden – 6/10
Despite being in an unfamiliar right wing-back role, the Villa youngster made a good fist of it until he was unluckily forced off through injury with 15 minutes to go.
Joleon Lescott – 6.5/10
The Englishman was forced to withdraw midway through the second half through injury, and it was not surprising that Villa conceded three after he left the pitch, with Lescott having marshalled the visitors defence fairly well until that point.
Leandro Bacuna – 5/10
The Dutchman returned to the centre of defence and looked like a deer in headlights as he struggled against Giroud, Alexis and Ozil running circles around him.
Kevin Toner – 4.5/10
The youngster failed to deal with Arsenal targeting him as the weak link and perhaps was at fault for 3 of the four goals scored, with Giroud bullying him to score a hat-trick. A day to forget for the Irishman.
Aly Cissokho – 5/10
The left wing-back role seems ideal for Cissokho’s tendency to roam up the pitch, but he was absolutely unable to deal with Hector Bellerin’s brilliant runs and looked isolated when Wilshere joined in.
Carlos Sanchez – 5/10
The defensive midfielder was tidy but rather conservative with his passing but was unable to deal with the Arsenal midfield swarming around him and making him look like a training cone for much of the match.
Idrissa Gueye – 4.5/10
The Senegalese defensive midfielder looked like he was already on the beach, barely making an effort as he was often second to every 50-50 challenge and had the Arsenal midfield brush past him with ease.
Ashley Westwood – 5.5/10
The Englishman looked similarly bereft of ideas as his midfield partners and struggled to deal with Arsenal’s passing. Westwood was hard-working enough and had a solitary effort on goal after a rare charge up the pitch.
Scott Sinclair - 5.5/10
Sinclair spurned a great chance to score in the first half, dragging his shot wide, and was unable to exert too much of an attacking influence on the game, although he worked fairly hard to create something. The Englishman looks desperately out of form and might struggle in the Championship
Jordan Ayew - 7/10
The Ghanaian reminded everyone that he's too good to play in the Championship with a performance that troubled the Arsenal backline, with Gabriel, in particular, struggling to deal with Ayew's pace and movement off the ball.
Substitutes:
Micah Richards - 4.5/10
The Englishman replaced Lescott in the heart of the Villa defence when he came on and was poor, caught out of position when Giroud scored his third to make the game safe for Arsenal.
Jack Grealish - 5.5/10
The youngster barely saw the ball in his 15-minute spell on the pitch, coming on to replace Lyden. Needs to pull up his socks.
