Cazorla steps in to fire up Gunners

Arsenal 2 Fulham 0

But Arsenal get you in the end. This time it was Santi Cazorla; against Aston Villa it was Wilshere. This is a team that always has someone ready to step up.

It is the sign of a side that has matured faster than anyone thought they could. This routine home win – the sort of game that is pretty much forgotten by ten past five – would have troubled them in the past.

In the space of a 12 months, Arsene Wenger’s men have gone through their difficult teenage years and are a much more well-rounded proposition.

They are still top, still scoring goals and not conceding many.

It is now just one conceded in their last nine home games, which indicates that this new-found stability is based on the core of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny in central defence.

There is now a sense of expectation, a question of when the team scores rather than if.

That certainty has been tested recently but once Cazorla scored twice in five minutes around the hour-mark this game was done and dusted, and attention could be turned towards the next challenge.

“Keep winning games ugly if you have to,” said Fulham manager Rene Meulensteen when asked whether he had any advice for Arsenal having won three titles as assistant manager of Manchester United.

“Those 1-0 wins where you do not play so well, those are the points that matter in the end.”

There is something to admire about the bullying streak that is in Arsenal’s current make-up. Against the sides from 10th down they have won 12 of their 14 games, with the solitary defeat coming against Aston Villa on the opening day. It is enough to just about keep ahead of the Manchester City and Chelsea juggernauts.

“This season we are much more consistent, much more solid, especially when we are on top of a game because last season there were matches when we would go 2-0 up and could let it escape from us,” explained Cazorla.

“That makes it practically impossible to win a title and this season that has changed for the team.

“At the moment we are showing we are up there with them (City and Chelsea). Maybe at the start of the season nobody put us as high as then, maybe because of the signings they made, but it’s ultimately demonstrated on the pitch and, right now, Arsenal are above them and our objective is to keep fighting with them. It’s true they are big favourites for the title as well.

“The important thing is that this season the level has risen with the arrival of Mesut; with the level being displayed for example by Aaron (Ramsey); Mathie Flamini who is doing great things, that means the team has a much higher level, that it has more options in every game for the manager.”

It could be more though. Wenger is still looking for new additions. “I give you my phone number and if you find anyone over the weekend you can call me,” he laughed when asked about potential targets post-match – and rumours linking him with Julian Draxler and Mirko Vucinic are getting stronger.

Then there is Ozil himself. The German is out of sorts at present, and looks a little lost. Wenger himself is not concerned about the club record signing.

“Sometimes people expect him to make the difference alone,” said Wenger. “Sometimes when it doesn’t work you expect him to take the ball and put it in the net. He is more a passer than a finisher.”

“I think as well the consistency of the quality of his passing slowly drains the opponent as he passes the ball where you do not want him to do it. That slowly gets us to take over.

A difficult first-half in which Fulham were obdurate was followed by a more impressive second as Cazorla smashed home after fine interplay between Wilshere and Giroud and then killed the game with a low drive that Martin Stekelenburg should have saved.

After losing their last away game 6-0 at Hull, there was some comfort for Meulensteen.

“I feel we played really, really well,” said the Dutchman, who was particularly pleased with the partnership of Brede Hangeland and Dan Burn in central defence. “We are starting to look more solid, and that’s our way forward.”

But Arsenal got them in the end. At the moment, they always do.

ARSENAL: Szczesny 7, Sagna 7, Mertesacker 7, Koscielny 8, Monreal 7, Flamini 8, Gnabry 7 (Podolski, 71; 8), Wilshere 7, Cazorla 8, Ozil 6 (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 86; 6), Giroud 7.

FULHAM: Stekelenburg 7, Reither 7, Burn 7, Hangeland 7, Richardson 7, Parker 6, Sidwell 7, Kacaniklic 7 (Kasami, 86; 6), Dejagah 6 (Bent, 68; 7), Dempsey 6, Berbatov 6.

Referee: Lee Probert.