The mercurial playmaker captained his team to victory and reminded Unai Emery of his qualities with a sensational pass for Arsenal's first goal
All the talk ahead of Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Burnley was about Mesut Ozil following his much-publicised omission from the Carabao Cup clash against rivals Tottenham.
Unai Emery’s explanation for leaving Ozil out of the Gunners’ squad for that painful defeat was put down to “tactical reasons”.
This decision rightly drew much criticism, yet it is a snub that clearly ignited the 30-year-old to remind everyone of his qualities in the final third.
It took the German playmaker just 14 minutes to show exactly what he can contribute to the Arsenal team when his sensational through pass to Sead Kolasinac allowed the Bosnian full-back to cut back to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the opening goal.
Ozil’s quality and commitment had been questioned by many in the build-up to Saturday’s festive fixture but he responded with an emphatic eye-of-the-needle pass, which only the mercurial no.10 could have seen.
A victory for Arsenal was imperative following the back-to-back defeats to Southampton and Spurs. Sean Dyche’s side posed a typically physical threat throughout, with Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Ashley Barnes involved in many quarrels.
Ozil, who had been nursing a back injury in recent weeks and had only started one match since November 11, was named as one of Emery’s five captains before the start of the season.
He was given the armband for the chilly encounter at Emirates Stadium, a move which all but silences the rumours earlier in the week that his future was unclear and that the Spaniard didn’t have a place for him in his tactical set-up.
Comments
Post a Comment