Arsenal showed no hangover from the crushing midweek defeat by Manchester
United as a first-half scoring blitz destroyed David O'Leary's side at Villa
Park.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had publicly written off his side's hopes of
retaining their crown after the 4-2 reversal at the hands of the Red Devils.
But that message has clearly not been transmitted to his players who played
with a belief and conviction that they could still overhaul Chelsea.
This was Arsenal at their imperious best as their sweeping football and surging
pace carved through a shellshocked Villa midfield and defence with Freddie
Ljungberg, Thierry Henry and Ashley Cole all striking in the opening half hour.
Ljungberg was a constant menace down the right flank, while Dennis Bergkamp
continued to show what a class act he is even in the latter stages of his career
with his vision and touch play.
But of equal importance was the return in midfield of Edu after a three-month
absence with a broken foot and then while he tried to obtain a move away from
Highbury in the transfer window.
Villa were outclassed for all but the final quarter and were incapable of
competing physically with their opponents who brushed them aside with ease like
men against boys.
But at least they can take heart from the performance in the centre of the
park of rookie Steve Davis who was unfazed at the awesome task of trying to get
the better of Patrick Vieira and Ljungberg.
Arsenal were in command from the first whistle and it needed a double save
from Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen to prevent them taking an early lead.
Sorensen went down to his right to parry away a left-footed curling effort
from Bergkamp and then he was up quickly to block the rebound effort from
Henry.
Gunners skipper Vieira wasted a good chance to break the deadlock when he
volleyed over after collecting a chip from Bergkamp.
A goal seemed inevitable and it arrived after 10 minutes through Ljungberg who
calmly clipped the ball over Sorensen after seizing onto Edu's pass.
Henry was guilty of a glaring miss when he scooped the ball over the bar from
close range after Edu's shot had struck a post.
But he ended his seven-game run without a goal after 14 minutes as the Villa
defence was once again all at sea.
This time Ljungberg turned goal provider with a pass into the path of Henry
who coolly drilled his shot across Sorensen into the corner of the net for his
21st goal of the campaign.
The recalled Jens Lehmann came out quickly to whip the ball away from striker
Juan Pablo Angel in a rare Villa raid, but after 29 minutes another superb move
led to Cole adding a third goal.
Henry's crossfield ball found Bergkamp whose first-time flick played in the
over-lapping Cole and his superb shot flew past the despairing dive of
Sorensen.
A few chants of 'We want Ellis out' were aimed at Villa chairman Doug Ellis
from the Holte End after the third goal.
Vieira came within inches of adding a fourth goal three minutes before
half-time with a curling effort which flew just wide.
Then Henry shot wide from eight yards when he looked odds-on to score after a
surging 60-yard run by Reyes.
Samuel's frustration got the better of him after 53 minutes when he was
yellow-carded for a crude touch-line challenge on the energetic Ljungberg.
Then Djemba-Djemba followed him into referee Steve Bennett's notebook for a
late tackle on Henry which checked his run into the penalty area.
With the points effectively already wrapped up, perhaps there was not quite
the same edge to Arsenal's play in the second period and rookie Davis was
competing as well as anyone in the Villa midfield.
Villa gave themselves a ray of hope after 73 minutes when Angel turned home
Ulises de la Cruz's cross for his seventh goal of the campaign, but it was too
little, too late.
In the closing seconds, a missile of some description appeared to be thrown at
Vieira from the touch-line and stewards went to investigate.
Teams:
Aston Villa: Sorensen, De la Cruz, Mellberg, Ridgewell,
Samuel (Hitzlsperger 62), Solano, Djemba-Djemba (Berson 66),
Davis, Barry, Angel, Luke Moore.
Subs Not Used: Laursen, Postma, Cole.
Booked: Samuel, Djemba-Djemba.
Goals: Angel 74.
Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Cygan, Senderos, Cole, Ljungberg,
Vieira, Edu (Flamini 74), Reyes (Fabregas 82),
Bergkamp (Pires 74), Henry.
Subs Not Used: Almunia, Hoyte.
Goals: Ljungberg 10, Henry 14, Cole 28.
Att: 42,593
Ref: S Bennett (Kent).
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