How Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere stepped up to tear Aston Villa to shreds

Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere celebrates his goal against Aston Villa

On what wasn’t the best day at the office for Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere proved the key man as Arsenal recorded what was a nervy 2-1 victory at Villa Park against a battling Aston Villa side who saw their star striker finally end his goal drought.

Wilshere played in his more comfortable role as a deep-lying playmaker alongside defensive midfielder Mathieu Flamini, and did well to orchestrate play. Arsenal as usual dominated proceedings, recording 60% possession, proving too much for Aston Villa’s three-man central midfield.

The youngster’s distribution was efficient, with him completing 86% of his passes. He didn’t stay deep, instead advancing up the field to link up with the likes of Ozil. He completed 19 passes in the attacking third, one of which became an assist as Olivier Giroud latched onto his fine lofted pass following a Fabian Delph giveaway and rifled the ball across Brad Guzan and into the net.

Just seconds prior to that, Wilshere had given Arsenal the lead himself after taking up a promising position at the top of the box and subsequently firing a low effort past Guzan following a Nacho Monreal cross. That was supposed to be game over for Villa, but the Gunners took their foot off the pedal and allowed the home side back into the game in the second half.

The Villans had a few chances prior to that though, one of which was given to them by Wilshere as he couldn’t control the ball as it came to him near his own penalty area, allowing Delph to have an attempt at goal, which was ultimately a tame, off-target effort.

Wilshere didn’t see as much of the ball in the second half as Villa pushed their way back into the game. It grew particularly nervy after Christian Benteke scored his first goal in 13 games – a diving header at the far post following a Santi Cazorla giveaway near the touchline.

They held out in the end, though, going back to the Premier League’s summit as a result. The Gunners may have lost a vital player in Theo Walcott, but Wilshere showed here that he is one player who can step up to fill the void.