The pressure was on Arsenal on Monday night after title rivals Chelsea and Manchester City had both won over the weekend.
And Arsene Wenger will be happy with his teams response as the Gunners swept back to the top of the English Premier League as two goals in the space of 60 seconds clinched a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
England midfielder Jack Wilshere opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a cool finish from Nacho Monreal’s pass.
And the Gunners struck again less than one minute later when France striker Olivier Giroud showed great technique to control Wilshere’s pass and fire past Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan for his 12th goal of the season.
Christian Benteke reduced the deficit with a diving header in the 76th minute, but the Villa striker’s first goal since September came too late to spark a fightback from the hosts.
Gunners manager Wenger said after the game:
“It is a big win for us because the first half was about playing our game with passing and control, and the second was more about fighting.”
“It was about fighting and our defenders kept us in the game,” he added.
“It was an anxious finish and we had to fight right to the end and we were committed to every ball.”
