Mesut Özil took home the match ball after a special night in the Champions League. He stroked and kissed his well-earned souvenir after his first ever hat-trick, before he finally left the pitch with an inspired smile on his face.
“Good night, Gunners. Took this one home with me tonight,” wrote Özil on Twitter, also uploading a video for his fans showing his best moments of the night. The technical attacking midfielder from Arsenal delivered a spectacular performance in his side’s 6-0 thrashing over Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Rasgrad. The Gunners and their head coach Arsène Wenger have been wanting to extend Özil’s contract for quite some time since it runs out in 2018.
Latest evidence that he’s a top-class player
“He’s found his goalscoring touch,” said the 66-year-old Frenchmen, delighted with his players’ performance. Although Wenger has had interest from many other big clubs, his heart is firmly with the London club.
Arsenal, who sit in second place in the Premier League in spite of the strong competition at the top of the table, are picking up more and more momentum. Özil assisted the second goal from Theo Walcott against the easily-overpowered Bulgarians and then went on to score three times in the second half, two of which were with his right foot. Alexis Sánchez had given the Gunners an early lead with a goal in the 12th minute while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also got on the scoresheet with a 47th minute strike.
“We need him as a provider and goalscorer”
The headlines in the papers were singing Özil’s praises after the game, with the Mirror describing the world champion as “brilliant Özil”. He is one of only three Germans to have scored a hat-trick in the Champions League. “As soon as he gets the ball in the final third of the pitch, anything can happen,” said his Germany teammate Shkodran Mustafi, who kept the Ludogorets attack quiet for the entire 90 minutes.
Özil has been smoothly building upon his recent strong performances, both in World Cup qualification and in the league. It is no surprise to Wenger that the man, who celebrated his 28th birthday last Saturday with a goal in his team’s 3-2 win against Swansea City, is proving to be a menace in front of goal. “He’s starting to run in behind the back line a lot more,” the long-time Arsenal head coach said. “We need him as a provider and a goalscorer.”
Özil already has six goals in the Champions League and the Premier League, whereas he only scored two more than that in the entire 2015/16 season. Özil is proving to be a more and more valuable player for Arsenal.
