Mesut Ozil Claims Arsenal Fans Gave Him Self-Believe To Return To His Best

Mesut Ozil has claimed Arsenal supporters encouraged him to replicate his best form during the 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday, and put a difficult start to the campaign behind him.

The German international came under increasing scrutiny last week after two successive disappointing performances against Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund, playing on the wing.

But Arsene Wenger restored Ozil to the number 10 role against Villa and the £42.5m star responded with a consistent performance, opening the scoring and providing Danny Welbeck with the assist for the second goal of the game.

Arsenal fans recognised Ozil during the game by singing his name loudly, while Ozil has since thanked them and his teammates for their support:

"Yes, it was very nice," Ozil told Arsenal Player. "When you know that your own fans are behind you, that gives you self-belief and encouragement. I'm generally very satisfied.

"I think when you assess after the game and see that you have scored and made a goal, you're relieved and very pleased.

"I'd like to praise the whole team again, who really supported me, and especially the fans who were very loud. I want to thank the fans, who were really behind me and support the whole team so well."

Villa had been this season's surprise package prior to Saturday's game, which they began in second place.

However, Arsenal sealed victory in a four-minute burst. Following Ozil's opener in the 32nd minute, a goal from Welbeck and an own-goal from Aly Cissokho sealed a comfortable victory.

"We knew exactly what strengths we would have. We analysed Aston Villa before the game and knew how they would play" Ozil said. "Especially in the first half, we created some very clear opportunities. We didn't waste our chances - we took them and that made the game easier for us.

"We played a bit differently, in our more usual system. I think that we were a bit better, a bit more organised and in the end that led to our success.

"When you look at the game, we dominated it and put them under pressure from the start. We scored important goals in the first half and that made it a bit easier for us. So congratulations to the team for delivering a perfect performance today."