Magnificent Mesut

Mesut Ozil scored one and made another as he answered his critics with a fine display in Arsenal's 3-0 win at Aston Villa.

Ozil opened the scoring as the Gunners, who remain unbeaten in the league, scored three goals in under four minutes in an impressive first half. Although the second half was largely uneventful it was a great result for the visitors as Villa's unbeaten run start to the season crashing to a halt.

It is hard to gauge whether or not this will prove to be a turning point in Ozil's season, but if he can build on his performance against Villa there could yet be big things to come from the World Cup Winner. When Ozil first joined the Gunners last season for a club-record fee of over £40million big things were expected and in his first few games in an Arsenal shirt he well and truly delivered.

But the German then seemed to go off the boil, becoming a shadow of his former self and often looking unhappy and lacking ideas. Gunners' fans were left wondering whether he was in fact the good purchase they had hoped, with some wanting him to leave after several frustrating performances including a crucial penalty miss against Bayern Munich.

Although Ozil was poor in quite a few games last season, some of the criticism levelled at him was very harsh. In his defence, it must have been hard to live up to expectations with the amount of criticism and lack of people getting behind him. Footballers earn big money and should deliver, but constant criticism can't be much help to anybody.

It is impossible to know whether the performance against Villa was a one-off or whether it is the start of Ozil hitting the big time again but the way he linked up with new-boy Danny Welbeck was very pleasing on the eye. German newspaper Bild rated Ozil as the worst player on the field in midweek but he responded to his critics in style and, seeing a smile finally back on his face bodes well as it looks like he has his confidence back...but only time will tell!

This is exactly what Arsenal needed, especially after the news earlier in the week that defender Mathieu Debuchy will be out for at least six weeks with an ankle injury.

But the Gunners didn't have the easiest start to the game as the hosts started brightly, despite having lost some players to illness before the match, with Wojciech Szczesny having to be alert to keep out Fabian Delph and Ciaran Clark.

As the game wore on, Arsenal began to get into their stride and were looking a far better side than the one that fell apart in a 2-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund in midweek.

The Gunners took the lead after 32 minutes when Ozil latched onto a perfectly weighted pass from Welbeck before calmly sweeping the ball beyond Brad Guzan in the Villa goal. Ozil then turned provider as roles reversed and the German crossed for Welbeck to sidefoot home from close range just two minutes later. Arsenal completed their remarkable quick-fire treble when Kieran Gibbs' effort was turned into his own net by Aly Cissokho.

It was slightly disappointing that the Gunners failed to build on their lead in a somewhat tedious second half but maximum points and an unbeaten start to the season will still please manager Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal faithful. Wenger would also have been pleased with his defence as his side kept their first clean sheet of the season to make it 16 games without defeat for Arsenal at Villa Park.

Aston Villa had surprised many by enjoying an unbeaten start to the season and could have even gone top with a win. Four minutes of the match decide their fate, although Villa are still above the Gunners in the table and can be pleased with their season so far despite the disappointing result. Paul Lambert's men have surpassed expectations and it will be interesting to see if this is the start of a slump or if they can bounce back quickly.

Although Villa were disappointing after the opening goal went in, it can be hard to judge a side's overall progress after a game of quick-fire goals where it quickly becomes a no contest as we saw against Liverpool and Chelsea last season. Although we improved in the second half of both games the contest was already over due to poor defending and quick-fire goals. Villa need to put it down as a bad day at the office and forget the match, instead remembering how good a season they had had before the match and carry that positivity into the next match.

As for the Gunners, not all the league performances have been that convincing but we are still unbeaten and must remain positive, especially after keeping our first clean sheet of the season. The next three games, starting with a league cup tie against Southampton and the visit of bitter rivals Spurs, are all at the Emirates and we must make home advantage count.

Hopefully Ozil can put in another top display, Aaron Ramsey can rediscover his form and Welbeck can continue on the goal trail.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS