Mesut Ozil Masterclass Sets Up Final-Match Drama for Arsenal in Champions League

Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League campaign will go to the final game of the group. With Bayern Munich dispatching Olympiakos with ease, the Gunners simply needed a win against Dinamo Zagreb to set up an intriguing fixture with the Greek outfit on December 9. They delivered in considerable style, with Mesut Ozil dominating in a one-sided affair.

The Emirates Stadium had plenty of empty seats for this match, but those who did attend were treated to a delightful individual display from Ozil. On a night when the crowd were occasionally asleep, he seemed determined to bring them to life with some dazzling displays of skill.

Perhaps, as one of Europe’s most vaunted players, he would be particularly stung by an early exit from the continent’s most celebrated competition. This was the performance of a man who is not ready to leave the Champions League stage.

It was Ozil who opened the scoring after a sweeping counter-attack from one end of the pitch to the other. Arsenal won the ball close to their own right-back position, wriggled beyond Zagreb’s pressing midfield and broke at breakneck speed.

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The German applied the finishing touch. Ozil is not typically regarded as a goalscorer, and he is even less frequently described as an aerial threat. However, when Alexis Sanchez’s perfectly weighted pass found him six yards from goal, he dove onto the ball bravely to nod past the advancing goalkeeper.

Having fashioned the opener for Ozil, the Chilean then added a second himself, stabbing home Nacho Monreal’s cross to end his recent barren spell.

It was also Alexis who put a final flourish on the scoreline, prodding into the net after a wonderful reverse pass from Joel Campbell. It was an assist that Ozil himself would have been proud of.

Alexis’ goals this season have tended to come in bursts—Arsene Wenger will hope he is at the outset of another prolific run. 

Arsenal might have had more, with Ozil getting into several more promising goalscoring positions before being thwarted at the last moment. That’s been a growing trend in recent weeks—the German international seems to have discovered a hunger to find the net, and that will only improve Arsenal’s attacking threat.

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Attack is precisely what they’ll need to do when they go to Greece in a couple of weeks. The Gunners know that a win by a two-goal margin is required for them to escape the UEFA Europa League and making it through to the Champions League knockout phase. 

Per Arsenal's website, Wenger insists Arsenal’s sole target must be a victory:

"

We just need to win. It might not be enough, but what I mean is if we go ahead 1-0 then they will be in a situation where they could lose it and we will be a situation in the game which we can win it, so we have to go there to win the game. If you can win 1-0, you can win 2-0. It is a must-win for us and the task is very clear.

"

He’s right. If Arsenal can get into the lead, they have players with the capacity to pick Olympiakos apart on the break. If Ozil performs as he did against Zagreb, the Gunners have every chance of earning progression.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.