Serge Gnabry was preferred over Lukas Podolski and that must surely send alarm bells ringing around the German’s head. I’m not sure I buy the fitness excuse to be honest, especially when you consider the amount of starts he has had since Tomas Rosicky replaced him in the starting eleven last season. What I find incredible about Gnabry is his awareness and willingness to put in a defensive shift for the team. You get the sense that players like Özil, Walcott, Arshavin before them have to force themselves to think about that side of the game. To go against their nature which is normal for an attacking player but even at 18 years of age, tracking his man and ending up in the right back position is almost second nature. His powerful frame is also used to barge into opponents

Back to the top of the table we go in a rather strange 90 minutes at Villa Park last night.

It was always going to be a step too far without match winner Anthony Taylor available for the home side. Jokes aside (bad jokes at that) I thought we looked impressive without getting in behind Villa a great deal in that first half. Özil, Wilshere and Cazorla were too much for Aston Villa to deal with especially with the interchanging of our attacking players.

It was Jack Wilshere that needed less than a minute to decide the game. Since Jack moved into the first team squad at 18 he has always had fantastic talent just lacked end product, whether it be assists or scoring goals. Last night Jack provided Arsenal with both. In the absence of both Walcott and Ramsey, another player needed to get into goalscoring positions and Wilshere did just that on 34 minutes. Monreal was freed on the left and his cut back found Wilshere ghosting into the box. Wilshere’s shot wasn’t the cleanest but it found the corner of the net.

My stream had buffered for a few seconds and when it returned I thought the players were still celebrating Wilshere’s goal. ‘That’s a long celebration’ I thought to myself until I realised that Arsenal had scored another. Wilshere’s golf like chip landed perfectly on Giroud’s left boot, he had a fortunate second touch kneeing the ball into his path and his finish was clinical. A double contribution from Wilshere had set us on our way.

If we had scored the third goal then the final score could have been anything we wanted it to be but at 2-0 the game was still finely balanced even if we were in absolute control of the match. Aston Villa were a beaten side in the first half but they must have had a combination of a bollocking and a bowl of Shreddies because they came out a much better side in the second half. More committed and with more purpose.

Santi Cazorla had tried to play a pass inside to a team mate close to our goal but it was intercepted. A foul on Mertesacker was not seen and Benteke stooped to head in at the far post. 2-1

The way Arsenal had been so dominant, without killing the game completely, it just reminded me of the recent years. William Gallas, Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Adebayor would not have held onto that score. But at 2-1 I was as comfortable as I’ve ever felt in that type of situation, especially away from home.

This 2013/14 Arsenal can defend leads with their eyes closed. Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Bacary Sagna were all very impressive again in the final stages. Blocking, heading and tackling everything in their path. Benteke had one other chance in which he headed close to Szczesny and that was it. Ball after ball into the box was dealt with, without any fuss and we held onto the three points.

Serge Gnabry was preferred over Lukas Podolski and that must surely send alarm bells ringing around the German’s ears. I’m not sure I buy the fitness excuse to be honest, especially when you consider the amount of starts he has had since Tomas Rosicky replaced him in the starting eleven last season. What I find incredible about Gnabry is his awareness and willingness to put in a defensive shift for the team. You get the sense that players like Özil, Walcott, Arshavin before them have to force themselves to think about that side of the game. To go against their nature which is normal for an attacking player but even at 18 years of age, tracking his man and ending up in the right back position is almost second nature to him. His powerful frame is also used to barge into opponents or shield the ball.

There is a sense that he has yet to click offensively, that there is plenty more to come. We have seen that from his reserve displays where it all became a little too easy for him. Serge really has a chance to establish himself into the team even with such tough competition ahead of him. If Arsene trusts him as first choice for the rest of the season in place of Walcott then next season he could become huge. He still has a lot of improving to do, still has to force himself on games going forward but he has everything. He will score goals like at Swansea more often, will assist like he did against Tottenham and start having the belief to take players on.

If Arsene ever says in the near future that he doesn’t want to kill Serge Gnabry then I can totally understand why.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had to come on late to replace substitute Tomas Rosicky as the Czech took a smash to the face from Agbonlahor. I thought Chamberlain was very sharp considering the amount of time he has been away from the game. He should get even sharper over the weeks ahead.

Three points, top of the league. Can’t ask for a great deal more than that.