Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was delighted with his side’s performance as they thrashed Aston Villa 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium yesterday afternoon.

Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Hector Bellerin were all on the scoresheet on a comfortable afternoon for the Gunners, who registered three straight wins in the league for the first time this season to leave Wenger extremely pleased.

“Our offensive game was good even though I believe we had some weaker periods in the game when Aston Villa was in possession,” the Frenchman said.

 “But we looked always dangerous when we got through their lines and defensively we were sound as well. Overall it’s a positive day for us.”

The Gunners took the lead after eight minutes as a delicious flick from Ozil released Giroud, who remained calm and composed to produce a dinked finish past Brad Guzan.

The German international then doubled the lead 10 minutes after the restart, with a scuffed effort that found the bottom corner.

Walcott marked his first league start in well over a year with an excellent finish after swapping passes with Cazorla to make it 3-0. The Spaniard then made it four from the spot after substitute Chuba Akpom had been brought down by Guzan.

Bellerin completed the scoring in injury time with his first ever goal for the club.

Villa manager Paul Lambert, whose side have now not scored a league goal since December, believed the scoreline was harsh but admitted his side defended poorly.

“It was a strange game, I didn’t think it was a 5-0 game, but it was and you have to take it. It’s not good enough for us to lose by that margin,” the Scot said.

 “The disappointing thing for me is the second goal, you cannot lose the ball 80 yards from our goal and Arsenal scored from that, it’s really disappointing. The third goal is probably up there because it’s our corner.”