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Arsenal made it three consecutive home wins with their 5-1 demolition of Bournemouth on Wednesday and Mesut Ozil marked his return to the lineup with a goal and an assist, thus reminding the Emirates Stadium faithful exactly why he is paid so handsomely.
The German set Arsenal on their way early on, latching onto Sead Kolasinac’s through ball and deftly lobbing Artur Boruc, who could only get a fingertip to the Gunners number 10’s effort.
The 30-year-old could have had a second but unselfishly passed sideways to Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who simply had to fire into an empty net – this was his second assist of the season, on just his second start in 2019 – and he also hit the post after the break.
Somewhat of a frustration for Arsenal, the former Real Madrid man has all the talent in the world – few can match his vision and eye for a pass – but Unai Emery doesn’t seem to tolerate his poor attitude in the way that Arsene Wenger used to.
When the maestro is on top form, though, he is almost unplayable and if he can continue to put in performances like he did in the Cherries clash then surely the minutes will come far more frequently.
The Premier League’s all-time top German scorer’s efforts on the pitch seem to reflect what he’s feeling inside and it was clear that he was enjoying himself on Wednesday.
Widely regarded as one of the best passers in world football, the star was sublime in possession and completed an unbelievable 96 per cent of his attempted balls – a match-high.
Striking up a lethal link-up with Armenian Mkhitaryan, Ozil completed four key passes and, if you’re Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette, those are exactly the kind of numbers you will be wanting from your creator in chief.
Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…
Ozil has been heavily criticised by Gunners fans in the past for going missing in games but, if his 85 touches combined with the aforementioned stats are anything to go by, then the enigmatic ace was the opposite last time out.
Whether Emery planned this whole thing out to put a chip on the German’s shoulder or if he just really doesn’t trust the number ten, Ozil has well and truly justified fans’ calls to bring him back into the side, and perhaps even proved his manager to be somewhat foolish in his stubbornness when keeping the playmaker on the sidelines.
