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.
