When on the ball we passed quickly and didn’t take too many touches in possession and that is why Liverpool found it difficult to cope with us in the first half. We were playing very well but as we know, it means nothing without a goal. That goal came courtesy of Santi Cazorla. I hope someone took my pre match betting advice about Cazorla scoring his first of the season. His header from the right of the penalty spot was the header of an experienced centre forward. His header smacked the post but he was on hand to control a powerful volley in on the rebound. Santi Cazorla made it look so easy when it was anything of the sort. Just replay the goal and watch his body shape when he hit that ball, technically perfect.

Before the game I wondered if we would be able to handle the Liverpool strike force. Both Suarez and Sturridge were seen as the biggest challenge to the Arsenal defence so far this season. If Arsenal were going to stop them then they would need to stop Liverpool first.

The Arsenal midfield was a thing of beauty. It was the midfield that I had hoped to see as soon as Theo Walcott hit the treatment table. A midfield of creativity, energy, dribbling and goals.

Against Chelsea and Dortmund we have dropped off from the very start of the game and played a more counter attacking game but against Liverpool we reverted back to our aggressive, high pressing game which nullified the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Lucas Leiva.

There are not many better sights than watching your team sprinting after the opposition in an organised, high tempo and well rehearsed way. Rosicky was sliding into tackles, Cazorla was nicking the ball from toes and Ramsey was hassling the man on the ball constantly throughout the first half.

When on the ball we passed quickly and didn’t take too many touches in possession and that is why Liverpool found it difficult to cope with us in the first half. We were playing very well but as we know, it means nothing without a goal. That goal came courtesy of Santi Cazorla. I hope someone took my pre match betting advice about Cazorla scoring his first of the season. His header from the right of the penalty spot was the header of an experienced centre forward. His header smacked the post but he was on hand to control a powerful volley in on the rebound. Santi Cazorla made it look so easy when it was anything of the sort. Just replay the goal and watch his body shape when he hit that ball, technically perfect.

That is the great thing about buying £42m Mesut Özil, he takes so much of the attention, and a player who has a damn good chance of being the best player on the pitch can often float around almost unnoticed as does Ramsey these days. I said the same when we signed the German in August. There will be many weeks when Santi outshines him, because he really is that good.

Oliver Giroud may not get the praise he deserves because he failed to score but his all round game was fantastic yesterday. His touch has improved or so it seems. He is killing everything that comes near him. He is allowing the likes of Ramsey and Cazorla to get ahead of him into the box. In the second half he had a glorious chance to score when he intercepted a Toure error but his attempted chip went wide.

I had a surreal moment at one point in the game. I remembered watching a 17 year old Aaron Ramsey playing for Arsenal, misplacing the odd pass but looking like a player with good potential. A number of people would say things like he will be a Steven Gerrard type of player. Box to box, scoring goals and winning tackles. Looking at Gerrard at the time, you’d be forgiven thinking that he had a way to go before he reached such levels. Fast forward a few years and we were watching Aaron Ramsey juggling the ball past Liverpool players as if they were not there, playing a level above his opponents. Top players like Steven Gerrard was don’t stay top players forever and inexperienced and inconsistent players often turn into top players. I don’t think I have seen a player jump such footballing levels as Ramsey has done in the last 6 months or so.

His development is remarkable on it’s own merit but when you factor in the injury he had as well as the pressure he was under by jeering fans, well what he is doing today is special. I may be repeating myself a little here but if this is truly the start of his year on year improvement then we will be dealing with one of the best.

Ramsey finished the contest in the second half by smashing a stunning dipping shot from outside of the penalty area to put us 2-0 ahead. A Gerrard goal of old if you will. Ramsey seems to be one of the few players who regularly test the goalkeeper and his efforts are paying off.

Szczesny played his part when he was called into action towards the end of the game. Racing off his line to make vital blocks. Liverpool had chances that they failed to take. Had they been clinical then it may have been a different game.

Luis Suarez shaved the post, he also missed when clean through. Henderson had a chance very early on after a Cazorla mistake. Mikel Arteta could have done better to close him down but that was as far as the mistakes went for Arteta who I thought was immense. It was great to have the Spaniard back to his best and we needed him without Flamini.

Arteta won the most amount of midfield duels, he was always available to receive and then distribute the ball. It was certainly his best performance of the season. Since the return of Flamini, the Spaniard has been strangely written off, as if you are not able to have two good players in the same position at once. It has taken Arteta a little longer to get up to speed because of his early season injury. His performance has come at the right time and we will need his energy levels to remain high with the Dortmund game coming up.

I thought Philippe Coutinho was fantastic for Liverpool when he came on. If Liverpool somehow fail to make the top four again then they could have a few big clubs knocking on the door. He made a big difference to Liverpool and you can see why they have missed him during his injury.

Luis Suarez was not at his clinical best but his danger and quality is obvious. A real game changer. I dislike the obvious character flaws but what a player he is. Daniel Sturridge doesn’t come close to the talent of Suarez, not even close. I thought it incredibly ironic late in the game when Sturridge had a strop at the Uruguayan for opting to shoot narrowly wide of Szczesny’s goal than to pass. I don’t think I’ve seen a more selfish forward than Sturridge for many a year now.

The only downside to our victory is that Kieran Gibbs has now suffered a calf injury. That said, Monreal has deserved his chance after some very good appearances from the bench. Hopefully Gibbs will not be long term and as long as we do not go two left backs down then we should be ok.

A great victory for Arsenal who played some wonderful crafty, creative football on the night. I still feel that we have gears to go up and that is a good feeling. Dortmund and then Manchester United up next. Very tough and we probably cannot approach both games the same way as we did yesterday when off the ball so it will be interesting to see how we cope.

5 points clear, important players to come back. Yes please.

Read other match thoughts

Liverpool (h) Ramsinho, Per-fection & More – Iron Man’s Match Thoughts

Your Vision – Arsenal’s Dominance of Wide Areas Key to Liverpool Win by Dennis Wong