Aston Villa 0 Arsenal 2: Gunners player ratings as Olivier Giroud shines

Arsenal

Petr Cech Tested with a few shots straight at him in the first half. Lucky not to be caught out for being too casual on the ball in the 54th minute. An otherwise quiet afternoon for the Czech Republic international. 6/10

Hector Bellerin A good afternoon for the Spaniard. Perhaps didn’t get forward as much as we are used to but continues to look comfortable in the starting line-up. 6

Per Mertesacker Decent game. Put Cech in trouble with a sloppily under-hit back-pass early in the second half. 6

Laurent Koscielny Assured as usual. Had a good chance to make it 2-0 after half an hour but his header went wide. 7

Nacho Monreal A solid if unspectacular performance on a quiet afternoon for the Spaniard. 6

Aaron Ramsey Caught in possession a couple of times early on. Won the ball in the build-up to the second goal and kept calm to finish and make it 2-0. Improved after the break. 7

Mathieu Flamini Has been doing admirably in recent games after stepping in for the injured Francis Coquelin. 6

Theo Walcott Playing on the left wing, he won the early penalty after being bundled down by Alan Hutton in the box. Great ball to find Ozil in the build-up to the second. Made way for Oxlade-Chamberlain on the hour. 7

Mesut Ozil Unselfishly squared for Ramsey to tap home for Arsenal’s second goal and notch up his 13th Premier League assist of the season. 7

Joel Campbell Did OK after being deployed on the right. Hit a few wayward passes in the second half. Subbed on the hour-mark. 5

Olivier Giroud (man of the match) Confidently slotted home the penalty to put Arsenal into the lead and net his 50th Premier League goal for the Gunners. Worked tirelessly. 7

Substitutes:

Kieran Gibbs Got forward a couple of times in the closing stages after replacing Campbell on the wing. N/A

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Forced a good save from Brad Guzan late on. 5

Calum Chambers N/A