Villa suffer first league defeat of season

• Mesut Ozil scores first away goal for Arsenal
• Danny Welbeck gets off the mark for Gunners
• Arsenal make it three goals in 192 seconds
• Villa suffer first league defeat of season

Danny Welbeck opened his Arsenal account as three goals in four minutes helped the Gunners beat Aston Villa.

Arsenal opened the scoring when Welbeck put Mesut Ozil through on goal and the German slotted home calmly.
Ozil repaid the favour by crossing for Welbeck to sidefoot in from close-range as the England striker scored for the first time in 16 club games.
Villa defender Aly Cissokho turned a Kieran Gibbs shot into his own net and the Midlands side failed to recover.

Welbeck & Ozil combined well - Wenger

Arsenal were fortunate to escape with only a 2-0 defeat from Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in midweek, while they had drawn three Premier League games before the trip to the Midlands.
They ended that stutter in form with devastating goal blitz in which two of their more criticised stars in Ozil and Welbeck did the damage as the Gunners made it 16 games at Villa Park without defeat.
Villa had been this season's surprise package and a win would have moved them top of the Premier League, but they are now third with the Gunners moving up to fourth.

Match facts
Danny Welbeck has scored three goals in his last two Premier League starts against Aston Villa.	Arsene Wenger's side kept their first league clean sheet of the season.
Arsenal had 71.4% of possession compared to Villa's 28.6%.	Arsenal had a total pass tally of 814, while Villa managed 312.

The defeat was the first in the league suffered by Villa this season as a combination of Arsenal's first-half performance and a virus that had swept through their camp proved too much for them to handle.
Villa boss Paul Lambert had lost defender Nathan Baker and midfielder Ashley Westwood to the illness but said that, despite other players "not feeling the best", his side would "go for it".
The home side were initially true to his word as Gunners keeper Wojciech Szczesny had to palm a Fabian Delph shot around a post and then save a Ciaran Clark header at point-blank range.

Team illness took its toll - Lambert

But when Arsenal click into gear they are difficult to stop, which a stunned Villa found to their cost as they conceded three goals in quick succession.
Ozil put the Gunners in front when he ran onto a beautifully-weighted Welbeck pass before sliding a left-foot shot past keeper Brad Guzan.
The World Cup winner went from goalscorer to provider when he crossed for Welbeck to score with a first-time sidefoot from six yards, before a Gibbs shot was turned into his own net by Cissokho.
The pressure was on Welbeck before the game after he had missed glorious chances against both Manchester City and Dortmund but he helped relieve it the same venue where he scored twice for former club Manchester United in a 3-0 win last season.
Wenger had been forced to defend Ozil after some low key performances from the World Cup winner so far this season and the playmaker repaid his manager's faith as Arsenal comfortably closed out the game after their goal burst.
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert on virus sweeping through side: "I don't know what kind of virus it is but it is certainly doing its rounds at the training ground so we will clear that place for a couple of days.
"To play Arsenal you need everyone fit and we never had that, but all credit to them for the second half - the lads were running on empty.
"The players have been brilliant at the start of the season and if somebody had said we would have 10 points by this time I would have taken it."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "We had a good work-rate and concentration from the start. We had a very good first half when we were in control and dominated the game.
"They [Danny Welbeck and Mesut Ozil] combined very well, especially in the first half. Our plan today was to play Mesut behind their midfield and it worked.
"I'm confident we will go from strength to strength now."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (left) has not seen his side lose a league game since April 2014

Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil scored his first goal of the season with his effort at Aston Villa

Welbeck's goal was his first in the league since March 2014

Villa had conceded just one league goal before letting in three against Arsenal

Ozil and Welbeck helped Arsenal on the way to the second league win of the season

Lineup, Bookings (4) & Substitutions (6)

Aston Villa

• 01 Guzan
• 06 Clark Booked
• 21 Hutton
• 14 Senderos
• 23 Cissokho
• 10 Weimann (Grealish - 45' )
• 18 Richardson (N'Zogbia - 77' )
• 16 Delph
• 24 Sánchez (Bacuna - 86' )
• 08 Cleverley
• 11 Agbonlahor

Substitutes

• 05 Okore
• 07 Bacuna
• 12 Cole
• 28 N'Zogbia
• 31 Given
• 34 Lowton
• 40 Grealish

Arsenal

• 01 Szczesny
• 06 Koscielny
• 21 Chambers Booked
• 04 Mertesacker
• 03 Gibbs
• 15 Oxlade-Chamberlain (Rosicky - 78' )
• 08 Arteta
• 19 Cazorla
• 11 Özil
• 16 Ramsey Booked (Wilshere - 78' Booked )
• 23 Welbeck (Podolski - 78' )

Substitutes

• 07 Rosicky
• 09 Podolski
• 10 Wilshere
• 13 Ospina
• 17 Sánchez
• 24 Abou Diaby
• 34 Coquelin

Ref: Mike Jones

Att: 40,013

Match Stats

Shots

6 9

On target

2 3

Corners

5 5

Fouls

11 9

Live Text Commentary

Full time

Full Time Match ends, Aston Villa 0, Arsenal 3.

90:00 +3:00 Full time

Full Time Second Half ends, Aston Villa 0, Arsenal 3.

87:48 Lukas Podolski (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
87:48 Philippe Senderos (Aston Villa).
85:26 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Aston Villa. Leandro Bacuna replaces Carlos Sánchez.

83:31 Booking

Booking Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

83:26 Foul by Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).
83:26 Alan Hutton (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
82:31 Booking

Booking Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

82:27 Lukas Podolski (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
82:27 Foul by Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa).
77:55 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Arsenal. Tomas Rosicky replaces Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

77:30 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Arsenal. Lukas Podolski replaces Danny Welbeck.

77:18 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Arsenal. Jack Wilshere replaces Aaron Ramsey.

76:51 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Aston Villa. Charles N'Zogbia replaces Kieran Richardson.

76:27 Calum Chambers (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing.
76:27 Foul by Jack Grealish (Aston Villa).
73:39 Mesut Özil (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
73:39 Foul by Philippe Senderos (Aston Villa).
66:43 Foul by Mikel Arteta (Arsenal).