Cesc Breaks Villa Hearts, Then Breaks Himself: Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 0

An excellent team performance, an uncharacteristically flattering scoreline, and a leap up to second place. A great ending to a good weekend for Arsenal, although Fabregas' late knock might be a hefty price to pay.

With the captain starting on the bench, Denilson slotted straight into Cesc's role, always in the middle of everything and starting some great passing moves. He showed good commitment at one stage in the first half when he somehow managed to maintain possession on the ground, alone and surrounded by Villa players. He won a free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the area, with Richard Dunne having run out of ideas and thrown himself at the Brazilian; although having been handed the responsibility of taking the free-kick, Denilson thought it best to simply smack the ball straight into the wall.

When Cesc came on in the second half, it seemed a tad unfair on Denilson, but he was the only player who could feasibly be sacrificed. In any case, Cesc's impact was instant. His free-kick was absolutely perfect, squeezing over the wall and tucking itself into the near post nicely, and his celebration showed just how much he loves this club. He took his second goal superbly - he literally couldn't have placed it further from Friedel without hitting the post.

Credit for the second must also go to Armand Traore, who played a pinpoint 50-yard ball to Walcott, and to Walcott himself, who rolled a perfectly-weighted through ball into Cesc's path. Traore had a great game. He must be one of the most physically fit players at the club; he had no problem dealing with the pace of Ashley Young, and his upper body strength kept the Villa winger at bay.

Abou Diaby maintained his excellent form today - he finally looks to be making the grade. His size posed a real problem to the Villa midfield, and he was far more involved in the air than usual. He pulled off a couple moments of great skill, at one stage laying on an unmissable chance for Eduardo, which the forward promptly missed. He had gone a bit quiet towards the end of the second half, until he waltzed past the tired Villa defence and placed a great finish low into Friedel's left corner from the edge of the area.

Heskey made a nuisance of himself in the air, with most of Villa's attacks coming from his headers, but Sagna and Song coped with him well. Sagna had about as much chance of pulling off a successful cross as he has of winning the 2010 Hairstyle of the Year award, but he dealt with Villa's wide play very well and kept Milner quiet.

Gallas was slightly dodgy with some poor positioning, and his pace was no match for that of Gabriel Agbonlahor, but Thomas Vermaelen was back on form this afternoon. He showed one of the most tenacious pieces of defending by an Arsenal player since the days of Adams and Keown, shielding the ball with his entire body and shaking off a rather inappropriate attempt by Agbonlahor to mount him.

Another player to really return to form today was Manuel Almunia. He was much more assured today, dealing with almost every cross and making one of the saves of the season in the later stages when Agbonlahor looked odds-on to set up a nervy ending.

More on Cesc's injury later, but for now we can be happy after a thoroughly entertaining match at the Emirates, and an unusually clinical show in front of goal.