Garde down!

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

ASTON VILLA 0 ARSENAL 2

By Ricky Butler at Villa Park

ASTON VILLA is one of the biggest names in English football. A club rich in history and traditional; Villa Park one of last remaining classic English football stadiums.

It therefore gives me no pleasure at all in watching them struggle like this, especially as they have a former Gooner, Remi Garde, in charge.

Of course I was delighted to see us win this game 2-0 and reclaim our place at the top of the Premier League table but it was with a slightly heavy heart.

This has always been one of my favourite away games. Since my first visit to this famous old stadium back in 1982 I have always enjoyed the trips here.

But having watched us pick up our easiest three points of the season so far, I couldn't help but think this could be my last visit here for some considerable time.

The Championship is now full of big clubs who were once at the very top of English football: Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County, Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers, to name but a few.

Relegation for Villa, and on this showing that looks inevitable, would see them join that list and you have to fear for their future. The Championship is possibly the hardest league to get out of and despite their reputation, Villa would by no means be certain of bouncing straight back up.

It seems hard to believe that our last visit here, 15 months ago, saw Villa top the table with a large, expectant crowd filling the stadium. Our 3-0 win that day probably contributed to their subsequent brush with relegation and to rub salt into the wounds we then thrashed them 4-0 at Wembley in the FA Cup final.

But despite being unbeaten here in our last 16 league visits, I have to say I was a little apprehensive about our chances this time. We have a habit of dropping points after a European away match and we had given an awful lot in Anthems in midweek.

With a squad stretched to the limit there was not even any scope to rest anyone so it was the same XI that started in Greece which took the field here.

There was no doubt we needed a fast start. The longer it stayed at 0-0 the harder it would be for us to find a breakthrough as the legs would inevitably become heavy. But thankfully it was the pantomime villain, former Spurs full back Alan Hutton, who provided us with just that.

Mathieu Flamini released Theo Walcott down the left and after getting the wrong side of the Villa defender, the winger was pulled down for what looked like a blatant penalty.

At first referee Kevin Friend appeared to wave away our appeals but he then changed his mind, presumably on the word of his assistant, and pointed to the spot. It was the correct decision.

Olivier Giroud, the midweek hat-trick hero, stepped up and confidently tucked away his 50^th Premier League for the club, only the 7^th player to reach that particular milestone.

The celebrations in the away end were so vigorous that my mobile phone, tucked away in my pocket, was smashed in the process. The dangers of an away goal when you are chasing the title!!

A one goal lead had not been sufficient in our previous two away games, at West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City, but this Villa side are not bottom without good reason, and aside from the lively Scott Sinclair, they never really looked like finding a way back.

And when we scored a second, seven minutes before the break, the result was sealed. The move started with a great tackle from Aaron Ramsey just outside our penalty area and when the ball found its way to Walcott, he sent Mesut Ozil clear.

One-on-one with Brad Guzan, the German could easily have scored himself but he continued his incredible run of assists with a simple square ball for Ramsey to tap home. 2-0. Game over.

Credit to Villa for a much improved second half display, although much of that was down to us looking leggy and settling for what we had.

Needing a clean sheet to equal the Premier League record, held by ex-Villa stopper David James, Petr Cech had a fairly comfortable afternoon against the least potent attack in the Premier League.

Prior to kick off I had feared the presence of Rudi Gestede, given our inability to defend set-pieces and his strength in the air, but he failed to receive a decent cross all afternoon and looked uninterested for much of the contest.

The nearest Villa came to a consolation was a thrilling late run by substitute Adama Traore which would have been a goal of the season contender had he not fired into the side netting after bursting past four, albeit half-hearted, challenges.

Despite being top of the table the mood in the away end at the end was somewhat subdued. There is incredibly still a feeling of 'Wenger out' among a section of the support, and even Giroud, in his current rich vein of form, has his critics. It appears there is no pleasing some people.

The problem seems to lie in the fact that many of today's fans cannot remember anything before the millennium. Throughout this match a group of lads in front of us were singing songs from the 1980s and 90s and they were met with blank looks from many around us.

The modern football fan expects instant success and believes everything they are told on Sky Sports and the BBC. No one in the media, expect possibly Thierry Henry and Ian Wright, expect us to win the title this season so many fans also believe we can't, despite the evidence to the contrary every week in front of their eyes.

But enough of our problems. Villa are a club in real crisis. Speaking to several of their fans on the walk back to the car you certainly get the impression that they have accepted their fate.

Personally, I feel that with the addition of a decent striker in January they would have a chance as they certainly have the spirit. Garde is an intelligent coach and has the ability to turn it around but he needs to build his own team. Currently too many of these players are not giving him enough.

Having been original members of both the Football League and the Premier League it would a real shame to lose a club like Aston Villa. But football is not based on sentiment alone.

We needed the points ourselves and were extremely efficient in getting them. Manchester City drew 0-0 here a few weeks ago so this was a big three points for us. Not our greatest, most fluent performance, perhaps, but a vital win nonetheless.

Next up is a potential title decider against City on Monday week. Alexis Snachez may be fit to return and what a boost that would be at such a crucial part of the season. 

No Greek tragedy for Arsenal

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCH DAY SIX

Olympiacos 0 Arsenal 3

By Ricky Butler 

IT WAS billed as mission impossible for Arsenal in Athens last night but that did not prove to be the case as Arsene Wenger's side once again made it through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

Olivier Giroud may have grabbed the headlines with his first hat-trick for the club but it was the character and spirit of the team that really shone through on a memorable night for the North Londoners.

This Arsenal side has often been accused of lacking mental strength and the ability to dig deep when it really matters. But last night in the intimidating atmosphere of the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, the Gunners showed they are up for the battles that lay ahead.

This will now join an impressive list of away results in the Champions League for Arsene Wenger's side. While lacking the glamour of wins at places like Madrid, Milan, Munich and Rome, last night in the ancient city of Athens, Arsenal produced a performance as good as anything that had preceded it.

After two defeats from their opening two group games, Arsenal looked to have left themselves with to much to do if they were to make it through to the last 16 for a 16^th year in a row. But after an unexpected 2-0 home win over Bayern Munich, the German champions only defeat in all competitions this season, the stage was set for a shoot-out in the Greek capital.

Needing to better the 3-2 win Olympiacos enjoyed at the Emirates in October, Arsenal looked understandably nervous at the start. And had the hosts scored in this period it would surely have been game over.

But Wenger's men soon settled down, and after the impressive Joel Campbell had set up Mathieu Flamini to hit the bar midway through the first half, Arsenal made the vital 28^th minute breakthrough.

The success of this team has been built around the world class talent of Mesut Ozil, and the club's record signing once again displayed his worth with a wonderful pass inside the full back to release Aaron Ramsey down the left.

The Welshman's first time cross was perfect for the late-arriving Giroud, who's trademark near post header somehow escaped the grasp of Olympiacos' goalkeeper Roberto to squeeze into the net.

With the previously vociferous home fans now all but silenced, the Gunners looked to gain the initiative. And just three minutes into the second period they doubled their advantage.

Again Campbell was at the heart of it, showing great touch and vision to dissect the home defence with a reverse pass which Giroud did not have to break stride to dispatch past Roberto with an instant left-foot finish.

A goal from the Greeks would still have denied Arsenal, but as he has so often done this season, Petr Cech flung himself to his right to tip over a 20-yard drive from Pajtim Kasami.

That proved to be the host's last chance of clinching the Group F runners-up spot as within five minutes it was game over. Nacho Monreal's goal-bound shot struck the arm of defender Omar Elabdellaoui and Giroud completed his first Arsenal hat-trick from the penalty spot.

The French striker seems to attract a lot of unwarranted criticism but this was his 13^th goal of the season, and his 71^st in just 157 Gunners appearances.

While over the last three or four transfer windows many have been calling for Wenger to splash millions on a new striker, there are very few available forwards who boast such an impressive strike rate.

Players like Deigo Costa and Romelu Lukaku are widely praised in the media but Giroud is arguably even better than both. 

Aside from his goals, the Frenchman offers so much more. While he may lack that extra yard of pace, his hold up play, touch and movement are exemplary. And as he showed last night, he can produce it when it really matters.

The good news continued for Gunners fans with the return to the starting line up of Theo Walcott after six weeks out with a calf injury. 

Employed in a wide position in Athens, Walcott offers the team something extra, and with Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck all out injured, the return of the Englishman could not be better timed.

Of course no one will fancy Arsenal to go much further in this competition as they could face either Barcelona or Real Madrid in the last 16, and a possible re-match with Bayern later on, but having overcome all the odds to make it through the group stage anything is now possible.

Comparisons were made with Liverpool's victory over the Greeks in 2004 when they also had seemed dead and buried in the group stage, and they went on to lift the trophy that season.

Perhaps that is beyond this Arsenal side when you look at who they will have to get past, but with players due to return from injury by the time the knock-out stages resumes in February, they could prove to be the dark horses of the competition.

Before all that, however, Arsenal face a very different challenge when they travel to Premier League basement boys Aston Villa on Sunday. Now managed by former Gunner and friend of Wenger, Remi Garde, it will be a game they are expected to win.

Previously this season they have struggled on the back of a European away trip: losing at Chelsea after Zagreb and drawing with Spurs after Munich, but this a match where nothing less than three points will suffice.

Following a difficult November, Wenger's side now look back to their best and with confidence restored, a place at the top of the Premier League could await come Sunday evening.