Clark 52, 70        Arshavin 39

                                                                                                                            Nasri 45

                                                                                                                            Chamakh 56 

                                                                                                                            Wilshere 90 + 3

Arsenal were briefly top of the EPL after this convincing win over a poor Aston Villa.

They dominated the first half and deserved their 2-0 half-time lead.

Villa’s first goal early in the second half threatened comeback like Tottenham’s at Arsenal seven days previously, but the Gunners were soon 3-1 ahead.

And they weathered brief late Villa pressure before wrapping up a fine win in stoppage-time.

Arsenal took the lead on 39 minutes when Andrei Arshavin cut inside his marker on the edge of the box and drove a right-foot shot past Villa keeper Brad Friedel’s left hand.

Friedel saved superbly from Chamakh’s header a minute before half-time but Samr Nasri’s deflected shot from the resultant corner doubled Arsenal’s advantage.

Ciaran Clark gave Villa hope on 52 minutes with a left-foot 20yard drive past Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski, who was unsighted by offside Villa striker John Carew.

Four minutes later, though, Chamakh neatly slipped a shot under Friedel’s body from Tomas Rosicky’s sliderule pass.

Clark’s close-range header on 70 minutes set up an interesting finale. But Villa couldn’t create anything from their late possession.

And Arsenal sealed victory with Jack Wilshere’s close-range diving-header from Chamakh’s cross late in stoppage time.