ARSENAL	vs	Aston Villa
3	-	1
Attendance : 38,093

DAVOR SUKER marked his full Arsenal debut with two goals and Kanu added a third as the team gave Arsene Wenger the perfect response to his pre-match plea for a victory. Arsenal were outstanding on the day and recorded 25 shots on the Villa goal. It remains amazing that Villa had somehow managed to take a 44th minute lead through Julian Joachim. Wenger said: "I am very pleased. it was an important win and we could have scored many more goals. "I was pleased with Suker, he loves scoring goals and reminded me a bit of Ian Wright." Wenger also confirmed that Dennis Bergkamp will be driving to Italy on Sunday and will be available for next week's Champions League match against Fiorentina. Former Arsenal favourite Paul Merson produced some of his old skills when he juggled the ball four times to set up Joachim for their shock opening goal. Villa would not have another shot on target and held on to their lead for only a minute before Suker ran onto a Bergkamp flick and equalised with a left foot shot. Arsenal attacked in numbers after the break as the game turned in the 50th minute when referee David Elleray penalised Villa keeper David James for failing to release the ball within the permitted 5 seconds. James could not kick the ball because of an injury but there was nothing wrong with Suker when he took advantage of the free-kick to blast in his second goal from nine yards out. There was no coming back for Villa now and they immediately substituted James for Finnish goalkeeper Peter Enckelman. He managed to deny Suker a hatrick but he was helpless to deny Kanu, on as a substitute for Bergkamp, from adding a third with seven minutes to go when he stroked in an Overmars pass from close range. Arsenal were back to their best at Highbury on Saturday and the performance marked the perfect preparation for the start of our Champions League programme.

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