Arsenal beat Aston Villa 4-0 in the final game of the season to secure a second place finish. Oliver Giroud was the hero, scoring three goals.
Jack Wilshere was the biggest news to come out the respective teams’ line-ups, with the midfielder starting his first game since the last day of last season. Mesut Ozil was ruled out with an injury.
Villa reintroduced Aly Cissokho after his return from suspension, but Rudy Gestede was only fit enough for the subs bench.
It didn’t take the already-relegated Villa very long to fall apart, as Frenchman Oliver Giroud put the Gunners ahead inside the first five minutes. Nacho Monreal was the supplier, swinging in an inch-perfect from the left-wing which gave Giroud the time to line up a towering header.
I added a video to a @YouTube playlist https://t.co/DZHsNJdHwS Arsenal vs Aston Villa 1 0 Olivier Giroud Goal #15/5/2016 HD
— him awan (@AwanHim) May 15, 2016
Moments later, Jordan Ayew wasted what turned out to be Villa’s best chance of the half. He waltzed through the Arsenal defence, but opted to try and square the ball for Jordan Lyden when he should have taken on the shot.
The next twenty minutes saw little on-pitch action. The biggest cheer was reserved for news of Newcastle’s goal against Tottenham, a goal which elevated Arsenal into second place and provided the very real prospect of Wenger’s men finishing above their rivals for the 21st successive season.
The start of the second half didn’t bring much more excitement. Arsenal dominated the possession and the territory but couldn’t get any shots away. Thankfully, the mood was brightened by the sight of the Aston Villa fans doing the conga in the away end!
Ayew continued to look dangerous for the visitors, but his efforts were continually snuffed out by the Arsenal defence. Arsenal eventually bagged a second, and Giroud was once again the scorer. Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez combined beautifully on the left side, with the German eventually picking out Giroud who swept home with ease.
Giroud, 2nd goal #ARSAVL #COYG pic.twitter.com/8qKxgH3abQ — Gui Pellan (@guillaumepellan) May 15, 2016
Two minutes later Giroud bagged his hat-trick. This time Hector Bellerín was the man who supplied the assist, with his perfectly weighted defence-splitting ball give the Frenchman a straightforward one-on-one finish.
EL GOL DE OLIVIER GIROUD (3): #ARSAVLhttps://t.co/WNn15FycP8
— Mr. Premier???? (@PremierLatina) May 15, 2016
Mikel Arteta completed the rout with a thumping finish deep into injury time.
Mikel with the last kick of the season. Vamös Arteta.https://t.co/b3dFaC0qTX
— C (@Classorla) May 15, 2016
The result gives Arsenal a second place finish for the first time since 2005. Villa finish the season in bottom spot with just 17 points.
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