Arsenal 2 - 0 Aston Villa

Campbell and Henry help make it three for three

Arsenal Scorers
Campbell - 59′ (1)
Henry - 90′ (3)

Aston Villa Scorers
None

Bookings
Aston Villa:
Lee Hendrie - 16′ - unsportsmanlike conduct
Mark Delaney 18′ - dissent
Juan Pablo Angel -37′ - unsportsmanlike conduct
Pete Wittingham - 71′ - unsporstmanlike conduct

Arsenal:
Kolo Toure - 39′ - unsportsmanlike conduct
Patrick Viera - 67′ - unsportsmanlike conduct
Dennis Bergkamp - 80′ - unsportsmanlike conduct

Apparently the people behind Arsenal.com underestimated the demand for the radio.arsenal service, as it crashed, and I was forced to rely on the text service provided by the BBC for the entire first half. Not much happened in the first half, although with four saves, Lehmann had much too much to do for my tastes. In fact, in total, Villa had eight corners compared to Arsenals’ two.

It was from the first of these corners that the Gunners scored their first goal, with about 11 minutes of the second half played. I was finally able to get radio.arsenal to work, and was able to hear the goal being scored. Sol Campbell with a header into the back of the net from Bobby’s corner. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, and that’ll keep a smile on Sol’s face while he sits out Sunday’s match against Man City through suspension.

Arsenal were definitely sub-par for most of the match, but they got the job done. Freddie Ljungberg and others spoke during the summer about killing games off, and that’s just what the Gunners did tonight, adding one heck of a nail to the coffin when Thierry Henry scored his third league goal of the season to make it 2-0 to the Arsenal.

A very pleasing victory, and one that sees Arsenal go back to the top of the table by virtue of goal difference over ManUre.

Next up, away to Manchester City on Sunday, where TiTi, Bobby et al will have the strange task of trying to score against old teammate and former Arsenal hero David “Spunky” Seaman, who left on a free transfer this past summer in an attempt to prolong his career. This match is on PPV here in the States at 11 AM ET.