Mesut Ozil helped Arsenal shake off the hangover of a midweek pounding in Germany with a starring role in a 3-0 win at Aston Villa while sloppy Liverpool lost 3-1 at West Ham United in the Premier League yesterday.

Arsenal’s record signing came in for particular criticism after the 2-0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday, but he came alive before halftime at one of Arsenal’s happiest hunting grounds.

His first away goal in an Arsenal shirt put his side ahead after 32 minutes, he then teed up Danny Welbeck to open his Arsenal account two minutes later before an own goal by Aly Cissokho ended the game as a contest after 36 minutes.

Victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run at Villa Park to 16 and lifted them to nine points from five games - three points behind leaders Chelsea who play Manchester City on Sunday.

Last season’s runners-up Liverpool, who unlike Arsenal enjoyed a winning start to their Champions League campaign this week, slipped to defeat against West Ham United after conceding two goals in the first seven minutes at Upton Park.

Winston Reid and Diafra Sakho put West Ham ahead and, although Raheem Sterling replied before halftime, Liverpool suffered a third defeat in five league games this season when substitute Morgan Amalfitano scored on the counter late on.

Southampton are a point ahead of Arsenal after a 1-0 win at Swansea City who had Wilfried Bony sent off in the first half.

Victor Wanyama’s 80th-minute goal moved the impressive Saints into second place with 10 points, the same as Villa who until yesterday’s first-half capitulation had been unbeaten.

Alan Pardew’s job prospects looked gloomy as Newcastle United trailed 2-0 at home to Hull City but two late goals from Papiss Cisse earned his side a 2-2 draw at St James’ Park where fans waved “SackPardew.com” posters.

A sensational Nikica Jelavic volley and a thumping strike from Mohamed Diame had put Hull in control but Cisse’s double lifted winless Newcastle off the bottom with three points.

Perfect response

Arsenal produced the perfect response to a week of criticism over their performance in Dortmund, although a sickness bug that swept the Villa camp helped their cause.

“Ashley Westwood was being sick in the warm up and Andreas Weimann was getting it during the game. Nathan Baker and Darren Bent were also out with it,” Villa boss Paul Lambert said.

“To play Arsenal you need everyone fit.”

There was little early sign that Villa were suffering during an even opening half hour.

It was the home side who almost struck first when Ciaran Clark’s header from a Tom Cleverly free kick was superbly saved by Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny.

But former Real Madrid playmaker Ozil, taking up his favoured role just behind striker Welbeck, lit the touchpaper for an exhilarating spell of football by the Londoners.

Welbeck played a perfect through ball and Ozil made no mistake with a cool side-foot finish.

Ozil’s inviting cross was then struck high into the net by a grateful Welbeck, who wasted chances against Dortmund in midweek and on his debut against City last week.

Villa were stunned and fell further behind a minute later when Cissokho diverted a Kieran Gibbs shot into his own net.

“I’m particularly pleased to get off the mark. It was a good team performance,” Welbeck said.

“They had their chances but when we took our first one we looked in control of the game.”

In the early kickoff Niko Kranjcar’s superb late free kick rescued a point for Queens Park Rangers in an entertaining 2-2 draw at home to Stoke , for whom former QPR striker Peter Crouch was on target.

Burnley drew 0-0 with Sunderland, a result that leaves both clubs seeking their first win of the season.

• Derby County fans paid an emotional tribute to Brian Clough yesterday with a standing ovation to mark the 10th anniversary of the passing of their brilliant and charismatic former manager. “All corners of the ground rise to remember Brian Clough. Just like last weekend, a great tribute to a legend,” Derby said as fans rose to salute Clough in the 10th minute of their Championship clash at home to Cardiff.

Results and standings

Premier League

Aston Villa 0
Arsenal 3
Ozil 32; Welbeck 34; Cissokho 36og;

HT: 0-3. Att: 40,013.

Burnley 0
Sunderland 0

Att: 20,026.

Newcastle 2
Cisse 73, 87;
Hull City 2
Jelavic 49; Diame 68;

HT: 0-0. Att: 49,119.

QPR 2
Caulker 42; Kranjcar 88;
Stoke City 2
Diouf 11; Crouch 51;

HT: 1-1. Att: 16,163.

Swansea 0
Southampton 1
Wanyama 80;

HT: 0-0. Att: 20,596.
Red card: Bony (S) 39.

West Ham 3
Reid 2; Sakho 7; Amalfitano 88;
Liverpool 1
Sterling 26;

HT: 2-1. Att: 34,977.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	4	4	0	0	15	6	12
Southampton	5	3	1	1	9	3	10
Aston Villa	5	3	1	1	4	4	10
Arsenal	5	2	3	0	10	6	9
Swansea	5	3	0	2	8	6	9
Man. City	4	2	1	1	7	4	7
Tottenham	4	2	1	1	7	5	7
West Ham	5	2	1	2	9	8	7
Hull City	5	1	3	1	7	7	6
Liverpool	5	2	0	3	7	8	6
Man. United	4	1	2	1	6	3	5
Everton	4	1	2	1	9	10	5
Leicester City	4	1	2	1	4	5	5
Stoke City	5	1	2	2	4	5	5
Sunderland	5	0	4	1	5	6	4
QPR	5	1	1	3	3	11	4
Burnley	5	0	3	2	1	4	3
Newcastle	5	0	3	2	5	11	3
C. Palace	4	0	2	2	5	8	2
West Brom	4	0	2	2	2	7	2

Playing today
Everton vs Crystal Palace - 17.00
Leicester vs Man. United - 14.30
Man. City vs Chelsea - 17.00
Tottenham vs West Brom - 14.30

Next fixtures

League Cup (third round)
Tuesday: 20.45 Arsenal vs Southampton; Cardiff City vs Bournemouth; Derby vs Reading; Leyton Orient vs Sheffield United; Liverpool vs Middlesbrough; MK Dons vs Bradford; Shrewsbury vs Norwich City; Sunderland vs Stoke; Swansea vs Everton. 21.00 Fulham vs Doncaster Rovers.

Wednesday: 20.45 Burton Albion vs Brighton; Chelsea vs Bolton Wanderers; C. Palace vs Newcastle; Manchester City vs Sheffield Wed.; Tottenham vs Nottm Forest. 21.00 West Brom vs Hull City

Premier League
Saturday: 13.45 Liverpool vs Everton. 16.00 Chelsea vs Aston Villa; C. Palace vs Leicester City; Hull City vs Manchester City; Manchester United vs West Ham; Southampton vs QPR; Sunderlands vs Swansea. 18.30 Arsenal vs Tottenham.

Sunday: 17.00 West Brom vs Burnley.

Monday: 21.00 Stoke City vs Newcastle.

The Championship
Brighton 0 - Blackpool 0
Derby 2 - Cardiff 2
Fulham 0 - Blackburn 1
Leeds 3 - Huddersfield 0
M’Boro 4 - Brentford 0
Millwall 0 - Nottm Forest 0
Norwich 2 - Birmingham 2
Rotherham 1 - Charlton 1
Sheff. Wed. 1 - Reading 0
Watford 1 - Bournemouth 1
Wolves 1 - Bolton 0

Tomorrow
Wigan vs Ipswich - 20.45

Standings: Nottm Forest 18; Norwich City, Wolves 17; Watford 16; M’Boro, Sheffield Wed. 15; Charlton 14; Derby, Blackburn; Reading, Leeds 13; Ipswich, Millwall, Brentford 11; Bournemouth, Cardiff 9; Wigan , Brighton, Rotherham 8; Birmingham City 7; Bolton, Huddersfield 5; Blackpool 2; Fulham 1.

League One
Colchester 0 - Bradford 0
Doncaster 3 - Chesterfield 2
Fleetwood 3 - Bristol City 3
Gillingham 0 - Walsall 0
MK Dons 6 - Crewe 1
Notts County 0 - Oldham 0
Port Vale 2 - Barnsley 1
Preston 2 - Crawley 0
Rochdale 1 - Coventry 0
Scunthorpe 1 - Leyton Orient 2
Swindon 5 - Sheffield Utd 2
Yeovil 1 - Peterborough 0

Standings: Bristol City 21; MK Dons, Peterborough 16; Swindon 15; Chesterfield, Bradford 14; Rochdale, Preston, Fleetwood, Sheff. United 13; Coventry, Gillingham, Yeovil 12; Oldham, Doncaster 11; Notts County, Leyton Orient, Crawley 10; Barnsley 9; Walsall, Port Vale 8; Scunthorpe 7; Colchester 6; Crewe 4.

League Two
Wimbledon 1 - Morecambe 0
Bury 3 - Burton 1
Cambridge 0 - Luton 1
Cheltenham 1 - Dagenham 1
Mansfield 3 - Carlisle 2
Northampton 4 - Accrington 5
Oxford 0 - Stevenage 0
Plymouth 2 - Hartlepool 0
Portsmouth 1 - Wycombe 1
Shrewsbury 0 - Newport 0
Tranmere 1 - Exeter 2
York 2 - Southend 3

Standings: Bury 20; Burton 19 Wycombe 18; Southend 17; Morecambe 16; Shrewsbury, Cheltenham, Mansfield 15; Northampton, Wimbledon, Portsmouth 14; Plymouth 13; Luton 12; Cambridge, Stevenage 11; Newport, Accrington 10; Tranmere, York, Exeter 9; Dagenham 8; Oxford, Hartlepool 7; Carlisle 3.