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Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal put their weekend misery behind them as they beat Bournemouth by two goals to nil at the Emirates on Monday Night in the Premier League. A first half header from central defender Gabriel and a second half magical team goal from Mesut Ozil set up a comfortable win for the hosts.Arsenal temporarily climbed to the top of the league table with 39 points from their 19 games, one ahead of Leicester City, who play fourth-placed Manchester City on Wednesday.We look at the major talking points from the game at the Emirates:
#1 Mesut Ozil is the best in the Premier League
Mesut Ozil confirmed his status as the best player in the Premier League. The German magician has been in spectacular form this season. He is one of the few genuine world class players who are plying their trade in this division. Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard might be better contenders for some people, but given the form of Ozil, it is quite right to assign that title to the German ahead of his rivals.
Ozil’s corner kick, which led to Arsenal’s first goal – a thumping header from Gabriel – took his assist tally to 16 for the Premier League season in the 19 games. He also scored the second goal, playing a one-two with striker Olivier Giroud, and ending up putting the ball into the back of Boruc’s net. With 16 assists and 3 goals, Mesut Ozil is the most in-form player in the country.
Ozil also broke yet another record after creating more chances than any other player in the Premier League in a single match this season. The World Cup winner provided an outrageous nine opportunities for his teammates to score. To put that in context, the average number of chances created by a Premier League this midfielder this season is roughly 1.5 per match. Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy have been outstanding this season, but surely there's been no better player in the league right now than the magnificent Ozil.
#2 Bournemouth can avoid relegation
Eddie Howe led Bournemouth have shown very positive signs off late. They were on a six-match unbeaten run before the loss to Arsenal. But Howe’s men have it in them to survive the season and avoid relegation. The team works as a unit and gives their all on the pitch. Adding to that, the fan support has been growing, and it has boosted the morale of the players too.
On the night, Bournemouth could not produce anything to beat Petr Cech, but their recent heroics are enough to prove that they can stay up this season. A newly-promoted side without any superstars has been performing so well, nobody gave them a chance in the top flight.
But they can survive because they’re adventurous, bold and have some good quality in Matt Ritchie, Harry Artur and Charlie Daniels. Eddie Howe asks of his players to play a brand of football which is good for the Premier League. He asks them to go for it, and their passion shows. Fixtures in the new year against Leicester City, West Ham United and Norwich City will prove to be the test for the Cherries.
#3 Petr Cech gets the clean sheet record
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech had equalled the Premier League clean sheet record in Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Aston Villa at Villa Park in the middle of December. However, the 33-year-old shot-stopper played his 170th game without conceding in the English top flight last night as his side moved top of the table, earning his record in just 352 appearances for Chelsea and Arsenal.
Cech overtakes David James, who had held the record since ending his Premier League career in 2010 with Portsmouth.
Recently, Cech has seen many opportunities to claim the record to pass him by. Cech had earlier conceded in four straight league matches leading up to the Aston Villa game. The Czech Republic player was more frustrated in the win over Manchester City where a late Yaya Toure stunner took away his clean sheet.
The former Chelsea goalkeeper has now kept 7 clean sheets for Arsenal in the 18 games he has played for the club. The shot-stopper never seems one particularly interested in personal glory, but he will still take immense pride in a landmark that fully befits a keeper of his professionalism and ability.
#4 Bournemouth poor at set-pieces
Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth started the game brighter of the two teams. The opening 25 minutes of the contest went by with little incident as the Cherries largely frustrated the hosts and in fact, were the more threatening of the two sides. Bournemouth have conceded more Premier League goals from set-pieces than any other team this season, and it wasn't hard to see why against Arsenal.
In the latter part of the first half, every time Mesut Ozil took a corner there was mayhem in the visitors' box, and it was from this route that Gabriel provided the lead for the Gunners. The Brazilian defender then hit the post when he was again left unmarked from an Ozil corner.
Into the second half, the problem of not being able to defend the set-plays persisted. They were comprehensively outplayed, but Bournemouth will also be a little disappointed at the nature of the defeat. Their defending from set-pieces remains their Achilles heel, and newly promoted sides cannot afford to carry such a glaring weakness.
The Cherries had started positively and can surely be forgiven for tiring as the game progressed, after a heroic recent run of form. However, Eddie Howe needs to sort the problem out or it could prove fatal to his team's survival chances.
#5 Changes work for Wenger
Historically, Arsene Wenger has always been reluctant to make changes to his squad. But against Bournemouth, the Frenchman made four changes to his XI that lost to Southampton on Boxing Day. Calum Chambers, Kieran Gibbs, Gabriel Paulista and Oxlade-Chamberlain, all came into the starting XI in the spots vacated by Mathieu Flamini, Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell.
This change in the line-up proved that freshening things up can really work. It made the Gunners fresh after the thrashing at Southampton. The changes restored some energy into the team along with the confidence that was missing at St. Mary’s.
Arsenal were well helped by Chambers, who sat in the middle of the park, stopping anything the Cherries had to throw at him. His holding midfield role was much talked about since the injury to Coquelin and Cazorla, and Wenger finally gave him the chance. The England Under-22 international kept his discipline, shape and played it simple.
Whereas, goalscorer, Gabriel came into the side and replaced Koscielny without any real problems. The Brazilian looked like a fresher version of Koscielny. He managed to score his first goal for the Gunners and played well. Even though Kieran Gibbs was returning from injury, he looked sharp.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain brought a missing freshness to the Gunners and an injection of pace to their attacks. He, along with Walcott, caused problems for the Cherries with their speed. Wenger will be delighted his changes worked for his side.
