Arsenal netted four goals in the second half to maintain fourth place in the Premier League with a 5-0 win over Huddersfield.
LONDON -- Arsene Wenger says Mesut Ozil has become more of a fighter recently, after the German playmaker inspired a brilliant second half by Arsenal in Wednesday' 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town.
With Arsenal nursing a 1-0 lead midway through the second half, Ozil turned the game into a rout by setting up two goals and then scoring one himself in just a four-minute span.
It was a second straight masterclass from Ozil, who also impressed in the 2-0 win over Tottenham before missing Sunday's win at Burnley with an illness. And Wenger said the reason behind the midfielder's improved form is his newfound fighting spirit -- a quality he was accused of lacking at the start of the season.
"Nobody has to convince Ozil he is a great football player. But he added something that people wanted to see from him as well, against Spurs and again tonight, that he can fight and that he can come back and win the ball back," Wenger said.
"Once people see that, they are behind you. Everybody knows in the stadium that he's a great football player. At the moment he shows as well that he can fight."
Ozil has often been criticised for his defensive work ethic and body language on the pitch, but Wenger wouldn't say just what he's done to inspire the recent combative performances.
"Our job is to encourage people to fight, of course. But I think he always covered the distances in the game," Wenger said. "He's at an age where he's mature, he understands what's important and what's less important."
The win kept Arsenal in fourth place and took their home winning streak in the Premier League to 12 games. The only negative was Alexandre Lacazette coming off with a groin injury at half-time, which Wenger said will rule him out of Saturday's crucial game against Manchester United at the Emirates.
However, his replacement Olivier Giroud netted twice as well as Arsenal ran riot over the last 20 minutes.
"Once we scored the second goal, we played with freedom, with drive, with creativity. And our link-play became fantastic to watch in the last 20 minutes," Wenger said. "I'm convinced that we played at 1-0 with a bit of fear at some stage. because we didn't play with the same freedom, the pass didn't come early enough. we played a bit inhibited.
"When we scored the second goal, everyone was suddenly more on the move, was more passing the ball quicker. They struggled as well maybe because they thought that's game over for us."
Mattias is ESPN FC's Arsenal correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @MattiasKaren.
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Source: espn.co.uk