After yet another well-earned win midweek in the Champions League, Aaron Ramsey returned to Cardiff with two fine goals as Arsenal won in the Welsh capital to move seven points clear at the Premier League summit.
Arsenal were quite comfortable in the early stages and had the opportunity to go ahead very early on, when Jack Wilshere turned on Ramsey’s pass and clipped a shot against the bar.
But most definitely, the best chance the Gunners had to go ahead came when, the Master of Assists, Mesut Özil flicked on a Ramsey pass, and the ball fell beautifully for Olivier Giroud. But in a bizarre moment of madness, the frenchman stopped in his tracks, in anticipation of the assistant referee flagging him offside. But instead, the referee deemed Giroud to be onside. By the time poor Giroud realised he was free to play on, it was too late as Steven Caulker had trotted back to cover and came in to intercept.
Cardiff did create a few half chances, here and there. But the first half was mostly one-way traffic. The breakthrough was to arrive, just before the half-hour mark when Mesut Ozil whipped over the perfect cross for Ramsey to get in front of his man and glance into the back of the net, with the Welshman choosing not to celebrate against the club that helped to launch his career. Ramsey had been cheered by the home fans at the start when his name was read out, and he was applauded once again, following his exquisite goal and modest celebration.
The Welsh Wizard had a chance for a second on the stroke of the interval, but took a fraction too long from Giroud’s pass and ended up shooting too high.
Ramsey opened the second half, by dribbling along the byline on the right, and cutting back to Giroud to shoot, only to see Ben Turner block the Frenchman’s shot on the goal-line.
Then Cardiff had a very short spell of attacking threat. But Arsenal were looking the most dangerous. And, they continued to threaten Cardiff with their intricate passing and slick moves.
Four minutes from time, just when it seemed that the game would conclude uneventfully, Substitute Mahieu Flamini did quite well to slot home a threaded invitation from, the one and only, Mesut Özil, scoring his first goal for Arsenal since January 2008. Arsenal then confirmed victory, when Peter Odemwingie lost possession, and Theo Walcott, another substitute capitalised on this error and raced away before squaring to Ramsey, who topped off an astonishing performance with a second goal.
Overall, Arsenal did well to be very patient and subsequently earned their reward with a big 3-0 win, which took them up to 31 Points, 7 ahead at the top of the table.
Man of the match: No doubt about it, the Man of The Match has to go to the brilliant Aaron Ramsey.
Arsenal were quite comfortable in the early stages and had the opportunity to go ahead very early on, when Jack Wilshere turned on Ramsey’s pass and clipped a shot against the bar.
But most definitely, the best chance the Gunners had to go ahead came when, the Master of Assists, Mesut Özil flicked on a Ramsey pass, and the ball fell beautifully for Olivier Giroud. But in a bizarre moment of madness, the frenchman stopped in his tracks, in anticipation of the assistant referee flagging him offside. But instead, the referee deemed Giroud to be onside. By the time poor Giroud realised he was free to play on, it was too late as Steven Caulker had trotted back to cover and came in to intercept.
Cardiff did create a few half chances, here and there. But the first half was mostly one-way traffic. The breakthrough was to arrive, just before the half-hour mark when Mesut Ozil whipped over the perfect cross for Ramsey to get in front of his man and glance into the back of the net, with the Welshman choosing not to celebrate against the club that helped to launch his career. Ramsey had been cheered by the home fans at the start when his name was read out, and he was applauded once again, following his exquisite goal and modest celebration.
The Welsh Wizard had a chance for a second on the stroke of the interval, but took a fraction too long from Giroud’s pass and ended up shooting too high.
Ramsey opened the second half, by dribbling along the byline on the right, and cutting back to Giroud to shoot, only to see Ben Turner block the Frenchman’s shot on the goal-line.
Then Cardiff had a very short spell of attacking threat. But Arsenal were looking the most dangerous. And, they continued to threaten Cardiff with their intricate passing and slick moves.
Four minutes from time, just when it seemed that the game would conclude uneventfully, Substitute Mahieu Flamini did quite well to slot home a threaded invitation from, the one and only, Mesut Özil, scoring his first goal for Arsenal since January 2008. Arsenal then confirmed victory, when Peter Odemwingie lost possession, and Theo Walcott, another substitute capitalised on this error and raced away before squaring to Ramsey, who topped off an astonishing performance with a second goal.
Overall, Arsenal did well to be very patient and subsequently earned their reward with a big 3-0 win, which took them up to 31 Points, 7 ahead at the top of the table.
Man of the match: No doubt about it, the Man of The Match has to go to the brilliant Aaron Ramsey.