Arsenal vs Burnley: Mesut Ozil steals the show as Gunners bounce back

Arsenal 3-1 Burnley: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his 11th and 12th Premier League goals of the campaign to give the hosts all three points

Arsenal’s prodigal son has returned, just in time for Christmas. Mesut Ozil came back in from the cold this afternoon, making his first league start for six weeks. The carpet was laid out for him, in the form of the captain’s armband. And while some might think that was the wrong decision, an unearned reward for a player who has squandered his talents, Ozil paid back the faith shown in him in the best possible way.​

This was a scrappy, ugly game, with no real flow or tempo. But the only moments of any quality belonged to Ozil, and he been left in exile then Arsenal might not have won the game. It was Ozil who played the brilliant pass to set up the first goal, Ozil who started the move for the second and Ozil whose run made the third. Three Ozil contributions, three goals, three points for Arsenal.

Yes this is Ozil’s job, which he is paid extremely well for, and his technical quality should be no surprise to us now. He is 30 years old after all. And yet there was still a slight feeling of redemption at the Emirates this afternoon, of a player giving something back to the club and his team-mates, and rewarding the fresh trust his manager has placed in him. It might have been easier, or tempting, to withdraw within himself and sulk, but instead Ozil decided to give the best of himself again.

Because it has not been an easy time to be Ozil recently. He has never looked fully on board with Unai Emery’s revolution at Arsenal but that is as much his choice as the manager’s. There is a view, as reported in The Independent this week, that Ozil is the one senior player who has not bought into Emery’s methods. If the club could find someone to buy him, then they would happily take it. Although the two and a half years he has left on his £350,000 per week contract would make that a difficult sell.

This is a real issue between Ozil and Emery, and Ozil did not even make the 18 when Spurs came here in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. Emery did not even claim it was a “back spasm” but just shrugged it off as a “tactical” decision. Given plenty of chances to say that he wanted Ozil to stay, he did not take up any of them.

But here, needing some fresh legs and ideas to pick through a stubborn Burnley side, Emery gave Ozil a right of reply. Starting, as captain, in his favoured number 10 role, this was Ozil’s chance to make his own case. If he is good enough to be part of Emery’s Arsenal future, or even just to make the bench in the Carabao Cup, he had to earn it.

Well, how better to earn it than this? With the decisive piece of skill of the whole game, a moment that of all the players on the pitch, and almost all the players in the Premier League, only he could have produced. Burnley came here playing a 5-4-1 and the early pattern of the match was two walls of black shirts in front of Joe Hart’s goal, with Arsenal trying to pick their way through.

Aubameyang opened the scoring (REUTERS)

So it was after 14 minutes here when Ozil picked up the ball on the right, running away from goal, trying to work out the combination to the lock. And then he cracked the code before anyone had started to get their head around it. Whipping the ball around Ashley Westwood and Jack Cork, but just the right side of Kevin Long, he picked out a run to the far post from Sead Kolasinac that no-one else in the ground had spotted. Certainly not Phil Bardsley, scrambling desperately backwards like a man who had just locked himself out of the house.

The lock was sprung opened and Arsenal, finally, were in on goal. Kolasinac, the ball bending to meet his stride, just had to roll it inside to Aubameyang to stab his finish into the bottom corner of the net. That is what you get with Ozil: the vision to see passes that you cannot even see from your seat, the precision to put the ball wherever he decides it must go.

The Gabonese striker doubled the lead (AFP/Getty Images)

Burnley’s gameplan is based on keeping it 0-0, so life was easier for Arsenal once they had the lead. When Burnley pushed forward, early in the second half, they left enough space for Arsenal to break into and double their lead. Ozil almost lost the ball on the edge of the box but then, with help from Mohamed Elneny, recovered it, and sent Arsenal surging forward. Matteo Guendouzi to Kolasinac to Lacazette to Aubameyang, whose shot flew over Joe Hart and in.

That 2-0 lead should have been game over but Burnley never stopped putting the ball in the box, and Arsenal never looked comfortable defending it. So while this was a mismatch of technical ability, possession and territory, Burnley were always in the game. When Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira turned down multiple chances to clear the ball, Ashley Barnes eventually took advantage and scored.

Ozil repaid his manager's faith (Getty Images)

This set up a tense finish, with Arsenal never controlling the game enough to shut it down. They needed a third goal, but they got one. Ozil, still fresh from all that rest, skipped through the Burnley defence, past Long, past Tarkowski, and while his shot was deflected, it fell to Iwobi to tuck the ball in. The win was completed, although this particular story has some way left to run.