Oh my god, was that the greatest substitution ever?

Was that the best  cameo 27 minutes of football you have ever seen?

Has a player ever changed a game so much?

Villa at home was going to be a stern test because they are a team in form on a good unbeaten run with the tightest defence in the premier league.

Villa don’t give away goals easily if at all, with us being at home the onus was on us to attack them, not that there was any possibility that we wouldn’t do that anyway but we were playing to their strengths because they relied on teams coming at them and then counter attacking with quick break-away goals.

Villa were on form and they probably expected to get something out of the match especially after they beat us here last season as well, so confidence was not short and ever there was a captains job to do this was the game to do it.

A sensational cameo appearance from substitute Cesc Fabregas helped Arsenal sweep Aston Villa aside 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

The skipper was a named substitute as he was not considered fit enough to start but came on in the second half to score two goals before being forced off with a hamstring injury.
Abou Diaby added a third late on to move the Gunners within four points of Premier League leaders Chelsea with a game in hand.

Arsenal dominated the bulk of the first half with few rewards for their efforts.

Brad Friedel in the Aston Villa goal was seldom tested, although the early signs appeared to indicate that he would be in for a busy afternoon.

After just four minutes he was forced into action after Samir Nasri delivered a ball from 25 yards out to William Gallas on the far post. The centre back, despite being under pressure, managed to get a shot off that forced a fine save out of Friedel.

Within seconds, the American goalkeeper was called into action again, but the demands on him were fewer as Diaby found Eduardo in a good position just six yards from the goal, but the Croatia international's shot was a tame one that Friedel gathered with ease.

Nasri came close to giving the Gunners the advantage after 29 minutes after his attempt at a volley from the edge of the area was goal-bound but took a deflection for a corner.
Three minutes later, Bacary Sagna fired a venomous shot just over Friedel's bar after Denilson's free-kick from the edge of the area hit the wall and bounced back into the right-back's path.
The second half continued in the same way the first had finished with the Gunners pushing forward.

Arsene Wenger usually leaves it until the last 20 minutes to make a substitution but gambled on the fitness of Fabregas when he introduced the Spaniard to the game after 56 minutes.
The Villa defence cleared off the line again after 60 minutes after foiling Eduardo from six yards out after the striker had been slipped in by Fabregas.

A goal looked on its way and it came from Fabregas on 65 minutes when he curled a free-kick from a central position on the edge of the penalty area past the Villa keeper and into the top right corner.
The Gunners captain claimed his and Arsenal's second in sensational fashion on 81 minutes.

Armand Traore picked up a loose James Milner pass and he then found Theo Walcott, who slipped in Fabregas with a defence splitting ball that allowed the Spaniard to run between two defenders to shoot past Friedel.

That was his last contribution of the game as the goal scorer appeared to have suffered a recurrence of hamstring injury that sidelined him for the past 10 days.
The points were secure nine minutes later when Diaby waltzed through the Villa defence to curl a shot beyond Friedel to add a late gloss to the final scoreline.

The game itself has given the Premier league teams a statement of our intent, we may not win the title but whoever does will be fighting us for that honour because the belief that we got from that game was fantastic and we will only get better because we have players starting to return from injury and slowly but surely the players are starting to believe as well.

Wenger has his January sales shopping list and has stated that he intends to spend, lets hope he does not wait until the end of the month before he purchases the players just so he can save a few quid, we need the players now to bolster the squad and give the team a lift.

I know it is a harsh thing but we need another goalkeeper because although Almunia can make decent saves he is a liability to the team as well, either give the others a chance or if he still feels they need more experience then go an buy a goalkeeper for a couple of seasons only, maybe Buffon would be available, his experience would be priceless.

Our young goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who is on loan at Brentford is making great headlines at the moment and Wenger has already mentioned him a few times which is quite a statement because he is our 4th choice keeper at the moment behind Almunia, Fabianski and the impressive Mannone. Lets wait and see if he is as good as people say.