Santi Claus delivers early

Birthday boy Santi Cazorla gave Arsenal the perfect present as his brace ensured a 4-1 win over Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium.

Cazorla, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, struck from an acute angle and netted a cheeky penalty, while Olivier Giroud also bagged himself a brace to take his tally to five for the season.

The sides went into the game level on points with identical records but there was only one winner as the hosts clinical finishing proving decisive. The Gunners scored from all four of their shots on target to record their second 4-1 victory of the week following the thrashing of Galatasaray by the same scoreline in the Champions League.

But this looked set to be a tougher game than the one in midweek, most notably because of forced changes in defence. Kieran Gibbs came back into the side in place of the suspended Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy was forced to shift to centre back. Laurent Koscielny and midfielder Aaron Ramsey have been ruled out for at least a few weeks as the Gunners' injury problems increased.

Arsenal didn't let this faze them and again looked in confident mood, which was a stark contrast to the side which capitulated against Stoke just a week earlier.

This was one of the very few Arsenal games this season I didn't see the whole 90 minutes of but, from what I did see, there were positive signs on show and it was a well-deserved three points. Things seem to be gradually moving in the right direction again and the team should be in confident mood for the trip to Anfield next week. However, lying down in 6th place is still not good enough and more improvement is needed so there is plenty work to be done.

Arsenal opened the scoring after 16 minutes although their opponents may consider themselves fortunate not to have been reduced to 10 men before Giroud's first of the game. Cheick Tiote's challenge caught the stomach of Alexis Sanchez and some sections of the crowd wanted the Ivorian dismissed for the foul.

The Gunners didn't let this bother them and were in front when Giroud over-hit a pass to Sanchez, who still managed to get to the ball and cross for the Frenchman to head home.

Jak Alnwick, who was making his first career start in the Newcastle goal, looked to have conceded again soon after when Danny Welbeck lofted in from close range. Luckily for the young shot-stopper Welbeck's effort was ruled out for a foul on Daryl Janmaat.

Welbeck almost made amends when he latched onto Sanchez's lofted pass, but the England striker's volley sailed just wide. The miss could've proved costly had it not been for the heroics of Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. The Poland international did well to parry Mike Williams's header and, although he hadn't got back up yet, he also managed to block the rebound from Papiss Cisse,

Arsenal doubled their advantage within nine minutes of the restart when Cazorla scored the first of his two goals. Sanchez played the ball through to the Spaniard, who managed to stay on his feet and skip over the challenge of Fabricio Coloccini before clipping the ball over Alnwick from an acute angle.

Giroud netted his second and the Gunners' third just four minutes later for his sixth goal against Newcastle, more than he has managed against any other side. Hector Bellerin, who had an impressive match at right-back, sent a low cross into the box and Giroud produced a magical piece of skill to flick the ball in from close range with the outside of his foot.

Newcastle gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Ayoze Perez headed home Jack Colback's free-kick five minutes later but Arsenal managed to find another goal before the end to restore their three-goal advantage.

With just two minutes remaining on the clock Paul Dummett fouled Welbeck in the box and Cazorla stepped up to score with a cheeky chip from the spot. In stoppage time Arsene Wenger sent on Ainsley Maitland-Niles for his Premier League debut to complete a fine week for the 17-year-old, who also made his Champions League bow in midweek.

All in all it was a positive day for the Gunners and, although it has been a decent week for the club, injuries are continuing to mount and the displays aren't always consistent enough.

There have been a lot of positives lately but I personally believe Wenger still needs to make some shrewd signings in the January transfer window. Two or three big additions could make the world of difference.

Next on the horizon is Liverpool so let's hope we can banish the memories of last season's horror-show at Anfield to get another much-needed three points.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS