Alex Iwobi and Shkodran Mustafi couldn’t help but praise their teammates after Arsenal secured a tenth successive win by coming from behind to beat Leicester 3-1 at the Emirates.
The Gunners fell behind when Hector Bellerin inadvertently deflected Ben Chilwell’s cross past Bernd Leno but bounced back courtesy of a majestic performance by Mesut Ozil. The German cushioned home an equaliser before the break before providing key passes in moves that led to a quick-fire brace by substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
While Arsenal’s two record signings will grab the headlines, the performances of everyone in the team smacked of confidence and belief; something Iwobi touched on when he faced the media.
“We’re very confident, everyone is excited, not just in matches but in training everyone is together,” said the Nigerian.
“The chemistry is good and you can see that in the matches as well.
He added: “Leicester had a few chances but it shows that we have a winning mentality and were strong throughout the game and were able to withstand that and come out with another victory.”
Mustafi emphasised the importance of grabbing an equaliser before the break allowing the Gunners to go up through the gears, as is becoming a trend, in the second half.
“I think we finished the first half well and it was important to score that equalising goal, that gives you a lot of motivation to go into the second half and keep pushing which we did for the last 15 minutes of the first half,” noted the German.
“Then in the second half we did some brilliant play, we have to give credit to the whole team because some of that stuff started with the goalkeeper and that gives us confidence for the games ahead of us.
“I am happy for Auba who came on and scored twice again, that shows every player in this team is important and everyone tries to give everything and overall we are happy.”
Mustafi went on to single out the performance of compatriot Ozil, captain for the night, as particularly impressive.
“I don’t have to tell you he’s a good player, he has shown that for the past years and when you give him the opportunity to play in his favourite position just behind the striker he is capable of doing anything and I think he showed he can assist, score goals and make us look very dangerous going forward.”
I think we played some sexy football tonight ??? Proud captain of this team and this club! © #YaGunnersYa ❤ #M1Ö @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/iPFGxViAes
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) October 22, 2018
Ozil’s goal on 45 minutes saw him surpass Jurgen Klinsmann to become the most prolific German in Premier League history. He now has 30 goals and 51 assists in 149 league appearances.
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What did you make of the performance? You can have your say and cast your vote for man of the match in our latest player ratings.
Smack across the face tonight on all them Ozil hateboys
Not really, I don’t think any Arsenal fan hates Ozil and I certainly don’t think anyone doubts his ability. He was outstanding tonight and a real joy to watch, hopefully Emery can get him enjoying his football again? and get some more consistency out of him? I just think he’s been really poor since last February, and for a player of his ability he goes missing far too often, and without the ball we sometimes pay a price for his inclusion collectively. Emery’s no nonsense approach, and lack of giving a fuck about reputations has refocused a few minds. Iwobi… Read more »
Ozil is being judged on what he has never been. He will never be a player who dictates play like Debruyne or Erikson, he will always be on the periphery of the game. He has always been like that and against Leicester, he was no different. All of Mesuts performances that have been deemed great, have all been those that included him getting a couple of assists or goals, which is wrong. Mesut should be judged on whether he creates chances or not. If we lose a game where Mesut creates chances like those Laca missed, people will jump on… Read more »
No Ozil is being judged on what he is. He is from a turkish family that emigrated to Germany. There is growing nationalism in Germany like everywhere else. Exactly like Ozil says “when we win I’m German, when we lose I’m an immigrant”. None of the “saxon” germans get judged like that. That is why he rightly stepped away. All the better for Arsenal. And its the same stuff from the British press mind, if he was English he would be lauded as one of if not the greatest British player of all time, instead he gets slammed by the… Read more »
WHY, he only had an average game
This is why we demand more from Ozil. We all know how good he is.
Those are one-off performances, nobody in the league has or will match that performance this season. It is not a consistency thing, just appreciate a once in a lifetime performance.
Week by week, you can judge his chances created. If you look for such performances again, you will be putting an unfair standard for Mesut and just condemning yourself to disappointment.
Back to back once-in-a-lifetime performances from Ozil and Ramsey. And still neither is a nailed on starter. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.
Ramsey has never had such a performance. He was part of and put the finishing touch on a great team goal, plus got an assist. He did as much in the Fulham game as Aubameyang.
Ramsey still has to give us a game worthy of the status he is being afforded by the critics of our contract withdrawal. Ask yourself this though, what does an amazing Ramsey performance look like?
Go gunners go
Ozil was sublime. He does kind of make Mkhitaryan a bit redundant though, he’s talented no doubt. I just wonder if we’d be better off having Mkhi on the bench and either swapping him for Iwobi, or adjusting the attack slightly to accommodate a starting role for Aubameyang. But maybe that is the plan and we’re just seeing Unai keep things fresh with some rotation?
Also, can anyone get Aubameyang’s goal to minute ratio since he joined, please? Taking into account that he’s had a few sub appearances, it must be one of the best in Europe in 2018, surely?
According to Sky in the league since his debut he has 16 goals in 22, with one every 105 minutes. Only bettered by Aguero with 10 in 14 at 101.
My stats show Aubameyang scoring a goal every 103 minutes in the PL, or one every 84 minutes over all competitions, so far this season. Last season, after joining at the end of January, his goal to minute ratio in the PL was one every 106 minutes.
Nketibag and Clock-End Mike, wow, cheers guys! That really is quite some feat. Think he’s had 5 assists too, meaning direct involvement in 21 goals in 22 games, and he’s only just starting to settle…! Exciting times ?
That 3rd goal just made me start loving Arsenal again! Can’t stop watching it 🙂
I’d argue Ozil hasn’t been quite right since that Bayern penalty miss in 2014. Time to build on this in the next month and exorcise those demons.
Why isnt anyone talking about Bellerin’s double assist performance??
I was on holiday in HK and watched the game in the wee hours of the day. At 1-0 down I thought the gunners would come unstuck playing the passing game which slows down the attack. Anyway it aint easy when facing Pool. For starters the Reds have guys capable of ripping through the gunner defence. That does not mean the gunners have no chance. In fact the Reds would know the gunners aint the Wenger gunners indulging in passing frenzy. It wouldn’t surprise me if the gunners were to win. Expect close encounter 1-0 final score. Oh I doubt… Read more »
Red Smith. little troll
If we can produce such performance consistently, nobody would hesitate to pay him 500k/week
Don’t get too confident. We are just winning games against teams we are expected to beat. Look at the two strongest teams we have played so far. We didn’t beat them, right?
Spurs supposed to beat Watford, ManC/ManU supposed to beat Wolves. ManU supposed to beat Brighton.
And that is why people are surprised at those results. Next thing I know, you are probably going to cream over yourself for a victory at Cambridge United.
Who’s getting “too confident”? People are enjoying Arsenal play and enjoying watching them win. If that’s wrong, I’m done with football.
Enjoyment does not equate to confidence.
Ozil – Answered his critics tonight. SUPERB performance but he will need to sustain it. As Mustafi mentioned (and Unai later), play him in his best position behind the striker (like Ramsey) He is never the most convicted defensively even if he puts in the shift and we should not expect him to carry the team when we are in a rut. BUT if our foundation is solid and we can get our midfield relations/Defensive cover solid, it allows him to do the work he does best further up the pitch acting as a conductor for sweeping raids that cuts… Read more »
I do wish you would stop comparing Ramsey with Ozil. It’s like comparing Denilson with Vierra
Shout to Iwobi too.
Solid running and graft from the Nigerian. Great technique and opened up the left side on a number of occasions. When switched to right allowed Bellerin to bomb forward more frequently.
Also the thing about the slow starts I feel is we tend to be cautious first half when teams come at us with the kitchen sink. But we now have the maturity to know that if we weather the storm, things will open up for us second half when they are somewhat spent.
This. There does seem to be a tactic in our first halves. The first 20-25 of most games are energetic, chaotic … teams feeling each other out (phrasing!). I love the fact that we are mature enough to weather the storm and, as this game, come back and make the difference. COYG!
it sort of seems like a tactic, we make the other team run around and get tired in the first half, then in the second half go for it, and if youve been running around in circles for an hour, the sight of aubameyang coming on must be a bit of an oh shit moment
Yeah, good observation. Every side has done that in the last several fixtures. Watford, Everton, Fulham, LCFC. In the former era of AW of the last 3-4 years, the side would surrender a goal, heads drop and then really struggle to get back in the game. This side under Emery seem to have more energy and belief. More backbone (examples include Torrieira, Laca dropping deep and making interceptions, the Hairy French Kid – same, and I personally love Lichsteiner.) This feels like a new dynamic. Make no mistake though: a more clinical side could be up 2-3 goals by half.… Read more »
And Mustafi – another good performance no hands in the wrong places.
Several no nonsense clearances and several punts from deep in defense to release players further forward on the break
Also shackled Vardy all evening. Had him in a pocket in Albania.
Mustafi- Holding partnership doing reasonably well considering…
No doubt a worldclass player. hes a JOY to watch. Would wish for a little more consistency though. But i do have a feeling that we will se more of that under the new coach, Özil seems more driven under Emery.
Don’t stop doing it guys, we are hoping to see this kind of work against big team in the league, love you Gunners one day I will join you guys.
WOW, what a performance by iwobi, head and shoulders above the rest of the team, he single handed dragged the team to victory, the only down side to last night was I think that we should have started with the team that finished the game, then we would have won more comfortable
We had 81% possession in the second half and lo and behold, Ozil played masterfully. To the “Ozil disappears in big games” brigade, I urge you to look at the possession stats against top opposition. In recent years we have generally struggled to keep the ball and have failed to deal with the press. Of course Ozil disappears! What do you expect him to do if we don’t have the ball? The problem has been systemic and I hope Unai has a plan for us to coherently attack against the top sides.
Ozil looked positively Fabregas-ian this match, if I dare say so.
(Just a bit more mobile.)
Fantastic stuff.