Source: Telegraph
Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 0: match report
Arsenal confirmed their status as genuine contenders for the Premier League title with an emphatic 3-0 win over Aston Villa at the Emirates this afternoon that narrows the gap to Chelsea to just four points. [LNB]Arsene Wenger's team also still have a game in hand and, with matches against Portsmouth and Bolton over the next 10 days, the 11-point gap at the end of November could be completely wiped out by the end of next week. [LNB] Related ArticlesTelegraph player raterPremier League tablePremier League actionPremier League fixturesTransfer TalkSport on televisionHowever, victory came at a cost and Wenger must now anxiously await an injury update on his captain, Cesc Fabregas who, after scoring two goals as a second-half substitute, appeared to suffer a recurrence of his hamstring injury. [LNB]Wenger largely stuck to the personnel and system that had proved effective against Hull last week, with Abou Diaby again flourishing as the most advanced midfielder in the absence from the starting line-up of Fabregas. [LNB]However, Fabregas had sufficiently recovered from the injury he suffered against Burnley to take his place on the bench, while Andrei Arshavin continued as the focal point in the centre of Arsenal's attack. [LNB]Arsenal were initially dominant in possession, but struggled to create clear chances as Eduardo and Samir Nasri both failed to capitalise on good positions. Arsenal, though, carried a far greater threat and urgency after half-time and quickly forced two outstanding saves from Brad Friedel. [LNB]First he smothered William Gallas' shot from the edge of the six-yard box and then he dived to his right to deny Arshavin. [LNB]With Arsenal only lacking the crucial final ball, Fabregas and Theo Walcott were both introduced early in the second half and the impact was almost instantaneous. Fabregas skipped past a challenge on the edge of Villa's penalty area but was upended by Richard Dunne. The Arsenal captain duly got to his feet and curled an outstanding free-kick beyond Friedel. [LNB]With Villa only threatening sporadically, Arsenal effectively clinched their victory with a quite brilliant second. Armand Traore played a long ball into the path of Walcott who, while barely breaking stride, split the Villa defence for Fabregas to score his ninth of the season. [LNB]Gabriel Agbonlahor almost replied for Villa in the closing minutes, but Arsenal's victory was sealed in injury-time by the outstanding Diaby. [LNB]Wenger's celebrations, however, were cut short when it became clear that Fabregas had again hurt his hamstring and could now miss further matches. On this evidence, it is difficult to overstate the importance to Arsenal just now of their captain. [LNB]
