Class act... Mesut Ozil was instrumental in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Stoke City yesterday.Class act... Mesut Ozil was instrumental in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Stoke City yesterday.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praised the dead-ball prowess of record signing Mesut Ozil after the Germany international helped the Gunners continue their winning streak with a 3-1 victory over Stoke yesterday.

Ozil, making his home debut, was involved in all three goals as his set-pieces were turned home by Aaron Ramsey, Per Mertesacker and Bacary Sagna.

Wenger admitted he was surprised to see his side enjoy such success from set-pieces against Stoke but praised Ozil’s contribution.

“I didn’t expect to score so many headers from free-kicks against Stoke, but the delivery is very important and the deliveries were good today,” the Frenchman told Sky Sports.

“Like the team he (Ozil) gave a lot on Wednesday (against Marseille), but he showed his class today and worked hard as well.”

Regarding the win, Arsenal’s seventh in succession in all competitions and fourth on the trot in the Premier League, Wenger felt his side ran out of steam slightly in the second half but hailed their fighting spirit.

“We had a good first half and the second half was more digging in a little bit because we lost our fluency, you could see that we lacked legs a bit but overall it’s of course an important three points,” Wenger said.

“The confidence is there and the desire is there, and that’s a very strong base. We can score goals and create chances, today in the second half we lost our usual game but in the end we won.”

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