Adrian Dennis/AFP
After four weeks in the Premier League, Aston Villa is easily the most surprising team on the table, sitting second with 10 points. Villa started the year with wins over Stoke, Hull City and Liverpool, racking up more than a fourth of their entire season point total from last year in the first four games alone. It all came undone in the first half against Arsenal Saturday.
Midfielder Mesut Özil, facing increased expectations from fans and the media after winning a World Cup over the summer, hasn’t quite lived up to the hype in Arsenal’s first few games. He scored his first goal of the year in the 32nd minute, coolly finishing off a 1-on-1 with United States goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
Özil set up another goal almost instantly. Arsenal dispossessed Aston Villa from a throw in near halfway, and Aaron Ramsey sent Özil sprinting down the left edge of the penalty area with a pass from midfield. Just 35 seconds after Villa had kicked off, Özil crossed into Danny Welbeck, and Arsenal’s new striker scored his first goal with the Gunners.
Things went from “terrible” to “catastrophic” for Villa from there. In the 36th minute, Cissokho tried to clear a cross from Kieran Gibbs before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had an easy finish, but ended up slotting it in his own net.
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