Mesut Özil the star as Arsenal respond to beat Bournemouth and go top 

 

 This time, Arsenal did make it to the summit of the Premier League. The lead might not last beyond , when Leicester City would return to the top with a home win over Manchester City but, for 24 hours at least, Arsène Wenger and his players can savour the view.

They had fluffed their lines in the 4-0 Boxing Day drubbing at Southampton but there was reassurance here against a Bournemouth team that looked tidy enough but lacked ruthlessness at both ends. Arsenal have not now lost to a newly promoted team in 22 matches and once Gabriel had punished slack marking from a 28th-minute Mesut Özil corner to score his first Arsenal goal since joining them in January, the die was cast.
Wenger’s team had too much savvy and at a relatively subdued Emirates Stadium, where the home fans were clearly expecting victory, they got the job done. They might even have won by more because they created the chances, with Per Mertesacker blowing the best of them from point-blank range.
Eddie Howe’s team had decent spells of possession but they could not create anything of clearcut note and Petr Cech reached his heavily signposted milestone as the Premier League’s clean-sheet king without needing to make a serious save. Cech has now surpassed David James’ record of 169 shut-outs.

It was Özil who called the tune. The corner for Gabriel’s goal represented his 16th assist of the Premier League season, while he scored the second himself with an ice-cool finish, following Olivier Giroud’s lovely flick. It was his fifth goal of the campaign and Wenger said that the numbers added up to make Özil not only the “complete player”‚ but one who deserved to be compared to the Arsenal great Dennis Bergkamp.

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“Bergkamp was more of a goalscorer than him and Mesut was more of an assists man but now he becomes more of a goalscorer, so they really are comparable,” Wenger said.
Arsenal had started nervously, with Wenger admitting that the Southampton debacle was prominent in the thoughts of his players. Bournemouth looked comfortable.
Yet they switched off for Özil’s corner to present Gabriel with the breakthrough and, in a heartbeat, the tone of the occasion changed.
Previously, there had been a few grumbles from the home support; now, they could relax. Gabriel had given Charlie Daniels the slip and his header arrowed into the top corner.
Wenger marvelled at the zip and timing of Özil’s passes. He described him as “the song leader with the right tone”, but, from Bournemouth’s point of view, there was a savage quality to his performance.
Before Gabriel’s goal, Özil had almost teed up Theo Walcott twice and after that, he set about turning the screw. There were two more killer passes for Walcott before the end of the first half, with the forward twice denied by Artur Boruc and there was also his threat from corners, which was revealed as Bournemouth’s achilles heel.
Howe’s team failed to cope with Gabriel’s runs and Arsenal were inches from extending their lead in the 34th minute. Gabriel got the run on his markers once more from an Özil corner and his flicked header beat Boruc only to rebound off the far post.

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Mertesacker was on hand with the goal at his mercy but the ball flew back at him with too much speed and he could not adjust in time. It seemed to hit him on the head, rather than him making a conscious attempt at the ball and it squirmed the wrong side of the post.
Remarkably, there were three more Özil corners before the interval that sparked panic in Bournemouth’s defensive ranks and, from the third, after another Gabriel flick-on, Aaron Ramsey almost got in at the far post.
Gabriel was one of four Arsenal changes from the Southampton game, coming in for Laurent Koscielny and he could reflect on a fine individual performance. Calum Chambers, brought in for a defensive midfield role, was also polished.
Howe had changed only two players from the 0-0 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Boxing Day and his team demonstrated their comfort on the ball. But they struggled for cutting edge and it was here that Özil made the difference.
His goal in the 63rd minute was a beauty, the Germany international playing a couple of one-twos on his way into the area for the one-on-one with Boruc. The second was with Giroud and the France striker’s return flick took out three Bournemouth defenders.
Özil barely had to break stride, although he gives the impression that he never does so anyway and, after one touch, he opened up his body to shoot low past Boruc. And that was pretty much that. Arsenal threatened the third through Walcott, Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but they had made their statement.