Goals from Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey have earned Arsenal a 2-0 lead over Aston Villa at half time.
Villa looked bright in the early stages as they attacked in numbers, but Petr Cech was comfortable collecting a well-struck effort from Scott Sinclair.
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Arsenal were then handed the chance to break the deadlock when Theo Walcott sprinted clear of Alan Hutton, whose decision to put two hands on the England international eventually encouraged referee Kevin Friend to point to the spot.
Giroud stepped up from 12 yards to continue his fine form by sending Brad Guzan the wrong way.
Guzan misjudged a free kick to give Giroud the opportunity to double his tally, but the French striker was denied by defenders on the line after sending his header over the Villa goalkeeper.
The home fans were left furious with the build-up to the second goal as Ramsey appeared to bring down Idrissa Gueye without getting a touch on the ball, and the midfielder capitalised to stroke home at the opposite end after Mesut Ozil had led the counter-attack.
Callum Mulvihill
