Mercurial attacker Mesut Ozil was given the captain’s armband for the first time at the Emirates tonight and he repaid the gesture with one of his best performances.
Arsenal won 3-1 after going behind to Leicester in the first-half.
Ozil scored the equaliser and then set-up an incredible third goal for Arsenal, with sub Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring a brace off the bench.
Jamie Carragher was left in raptures about Ozil’s display, which was capped off with a fantastic assist with the outside of his boot at the end of a wonderful Arsenal goal.
Talking on the Sky Sports coverage of the game (Sky Sports, 7pm) he praised the depth of the Arsenal attack saying, “Arsenal’s attacking players… it is some strike force.
“Ozil gets criticism, from us sometimes, but his performance tonight was magnificent… his assist was as good as anything you’ll ever see.”
Graeme Souness agreed saying, “If you’re playing with him and you’re aware… his technique… it doesn’t get any better than that.”
OPINION
That’s ten wins on the bounce for Arsenal and they showed character coming from behind and withstanding a lot of Leicester pressure in the first-half. The win leaves them two points behind Man City at the top of the league so are they now title contenders? That’s tough to see with their defence as it is at the moment. When their attacking players click though they’re capable of devastating football but they leave things too open at the back. The true test for Arsenal comes in games against Liverpool, Tottenham and Man United in the coming weeks and that will go a long way to sorting out who is and who isn’t in contention for the title. Ozil hasn’t been consistently on top of his game for a while but he was superb tonight. And Aubameyang scored two goals after just a few minutes on the pitch. Can Emery work out a system that accommodates both of them? That’s the problem he has to crack because the striker is way too good to be starting from the bench.