Photo courtesy of Arsenal’s official Facebook page
Mesut Ozil shone during his Arsenal debut as it did not take very long for him to record his first assist for the London-based club. He took one touch to control a long ball down the left flank, then sent a straight cross to the awaiting left foot of Olivier Giroud, who tapped the ball home.
Theo Walcot missed 4-5 clear-cut chances as the Sunderland keeper came up huge. Ozil, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey all built up attack after attack for the English international winger to get his open looks on frame.
Sunderland knew how lucky they were to only be down by one at the half, which is why they jumped out blasting to start the second half. In fact, substitute Craig Gardner equalized from the spot after captain Adam Johnson was knocked down in the area.
Regardless, Ramsey scored off of a sweet volley to retake the lead. Arsenal moved the ball ever so quickly down the right to Carl Jenkinson, who spotted the open space in front of the Welshman.
The most controversial moment of the game arrived when Jozy Altidore was pulled and pushed by Bacary Sagna outside the area, but continued to run in and managed to hit home the equalizer … or so we thought, as the referee would blow the whistle for a free kick. Instead of playing the advantage, referee Martin Atkinson stopped play to award the home side the free kick.
Ramsey would then finish the scoring to award the Gunners the somewhat-deserved 3-1 away victory at the Stadium of Light.
The Gunners proved that they will be an extremely dangerous side with Ozil in their ranks. He was apparently under the weather today, so it is tough to imagine how much better he will be when he is at a full 100 percent. He truly is worthy of that no. 11 on the back of his jersey.
