Arsenal 4 Aston Villa 0
It has happened again. For the 21st season in succession, Arsenal finished above Tottenham Hotspur and this time, the result came lacerated by black comedy – at least, as far as the red half of north London was concerned.
Arsenal’s victory here against the most abject Aston Villa team in recent memory was never in doubt and when it was coupled with Tottenham’s 5-1 capitulation at Newcastle United, the Emirates Stadium crowd could laugh and gloat extremely loudly.
A few weeks ago, Tottenham were vying with Leicester City for the title. But they must now reflect on having somehow come in third in a two-horse race. How Arsenal gloried in it all and the Emirates has not felt this happy for quite some time.
Olivier Giroud was barracked by sections of the home crowd but he still managed to score a hat-trick and the afternoon was completed when Mikel Arteta, the club captain, came on as a late substitute on his farewell appearance. He almost marked it with a goal, too, but his shot came back off the crossbar, hit the Villa goalkeeper, Mark Bunn, and went in for an own goal. Arteta was in tears at full time.
A few minutes after the full-time whistle, the Arsenal players formed a guard of honour for Tomas Rosicky, another stalwart, who will leave next month when his contract expires after a decade at the club. They each wore No7 shirts, with Rosicky’s name on the back. It was a nice touch, before the lap of appreciation began and, for the moment, at least, the fans inside the stadium could forget about their collapsed title challenge.
Arsenal had gone ahead in the fifth minute and it said much for the mood of the occasion that the travelling Villa support should promptly question the home team’s quality. How poor must they be, if it was only 1-0 – or words to that effect.
It had felt as though the serious business was 275 miles to the north, where Arsenal needed Newcastle to beat Tottenham and the loudest cheers of the afternoon, by far, came when the news filtered through of Newcastle’s goals. Who said that Arsenal did not care about finishing above their neighbours?
Arsenal had broken through when Alexis Sánchez released Nacho Monreal with a back-heel and the left-back had the time and space to cross. Giroud had more of it in the middle. It was remarkable just how much. The Frenchman had merely held his ground close to the penalty spot and, when the 19-year-old defender, Kevin Toner, dropped off him, he rose to head firmly past Bunn.
Giroud made a T-shape with his hands during his celebration, before flashing up seven digits – the first tribute of the afternoon to Rosicky. Mathieu Flamini, who did not feature here, is the other veteran who will leave and the big issue for Arsenal’s fans will be how Arsène Wenger chooses to restrengthen. He has a firm interest in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Granit Xhaka and Borussia Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Villa fans were in party mood and plenty of them had kitted up in fancy dress. The award for best costume was a close-run thing but the guys who came as parts of the male anatomy, with pictures of under-performing Villa players on them, probably shaded it. They batted beach balls and inflatable bananas about in the away end and, in the 40th minute, they belted out a chorus of “One Arsene Wenger”. Moments later, the home fans cheered the news of Newcastle’s second goal. It was all pretty surreal.
Arsenal squandered the chances in the first half to make things easier, most notably when Jack Wilshere, starting his first game of the season, miscued into the side-netting. He had been unmarked on Sánchez’s cross. The cameras panned straight to Roy Hodgson, the England manager, who wore a rueful smile.
Perhaps mindful of it being the last game before Hodgson names his squad for Euro 2016, Wilshere played within himself. He was substituted on 68 minutes. Theo Walcott, meanwhile, was ruled out with a tight hamstring. The injury is one that is expected to keep him out for 10 days – in other words, he should be fit for the Euros, if selected.
Sánchez had a couple of first-half chances but one of the features of the afternoon was the strange treatment of Giroud. The home crowd howled at him when he made a bad decision and even when there were bad decisions made by others around him. But they could also salute him for the goals he scored to complete his hat-trick.
The Villa fans cheered when Ashley Westwood mustered a shot on target in the 16th minute and they went wild when they won two corners in quick succession around the hour mark. Jordan Ayew showed one or two flickers for them and, as crazy as it sounds, when it was only 1-0, there was a little bit of nervousness for Arsenal.
Mohamed Elneny, a substitute, volleyed over and Santi Cazorla, making his comeback from knee ligament surgery, drew a save out of Bunn. But Giroud got his second when he swept in Mesut Özil’s cross – he ran to the bench to celebrate with Rosicky – and his third came from a Hector Bellerín pass. Sánchez did everything but score and Elneny went close late on before Arteta forced the fourth.
Guardian Services
