Despite all the odds, Arsenal managed to finish second.

The match itself was more of the same. Lots of passing without much final product. We over-passed and seems lacking in confidence in the final third. Despite our early pressure and resulting goal, it didn’t feel safe.

Thankfully, in the final quarter of an hour, we seemed to remember we were playing a relegated team and Giroud completed a hat-trick before Mikel Arteta came on to score his final Arsenal goal.

Petr Cech – 8

Despite Villa getting forward a couple of times, the goalkeeper didn’t have a lot to do.

Hector Bellerin – 6.5

The right-back put in some dodgy challenges but overall strong.

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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 15: Hector Bellerin of Arsenal and Idrissa Gueye of Aston Villa compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on May 15, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Gabriel – 5.5

The Brazilian was poor, again.

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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 15: Mikel Arteta (R) of Arsenal hugs with Gabriel (R) after the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on May 15, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Laurent Koscielny – 7

Not long after we scored, Villa found a weak spot but luckily Kos was there to clean up the mess and prevent a shot on goal.

Nacho Monreal – 7.5

The full-back grabbed an early assist for Giroud’s goal in the fifth minute.

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(IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Francis Coquelin – 6

The midfielder’s return to the starting lineup was so-so for the Gunners.

Jack Wilshere – 6

It was the midfielder’s first start this season after being out through injury and he was solid, he even could have scored in the first half. It was a bit nervy watching him going in for challenges but I suspect we’ll be like that for the duration of the Euros.

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(IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Santi Cazorla – 7

Having our little maestro back in the middle of the pitch dictating play made such a difference to our ability to hold onto the ball. We’ve really missed him.

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(IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Mesut Ozil – 7

The German put in some fantastic passes, as usual, but seems to have fallen back into the old habit of trying to overpass and not shooting when he should.

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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 15: Ashley Westwood of Aston Villa and Mesut Ozil of Arsenal compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on May 15, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Alexis Sachez – 7

The forward was fantastic. He was creative yet methodical and had Lyden on toast, as they say. Hopefully, we don’t lose him this summer.

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(IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Olivier Giroud – 10

The striker scored a hat-trick! The Frenchman seems to be hitting form against going into the Euros this summer.

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(IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

SUBS

Mohamed Elneny – 5

He could have scored but fluffed it. Still, solid performance.

Mikel Arteta – 11

It was Mikel’s last game in an Arsenal shirt and boy did he go out in style, scoring a fourth goal and lifting the roof off the Emirates.

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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 15: Mikel Arteta (R) and Olivier Giroud (L) of Arsenal celebrate their team’s fourth goal scored own goal by Mark Bunn of Aston Villa during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on May 15, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Joel Campbell – N/A