Cesc magic sinks Villa

Fabregas: Hero off the bench

Man of the match: Cesc Fabregas' two goals from the bench helped Arsenal secure the three points.

Goal of the match: Cesc Fabregas' free-kick from 25 yards to open the scoring gave Brad Friedel no chance.

Moment of the match: Abou Diaby's late goal confirmed that Aston Villa have a long way to go before they challenge for the title.

Save of the match: Manuel Almunia stayed strong late on to stop Gabriel Agbonlahor's effort.

Talking point: Will Arsenal be without Cesc Fabregas for a spell after he left the field with injury?

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Cesc Fabregas emerged off the bench and bagged a brace as Arsenal climbed to second in the Premier League table with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Chances were few and far between in the first half, although Eduardo had a good opportunity to open the scoring early on when he scuffed his left-footed shot.

Richard Dunne did have the ball in the back of the net before half-time, however, referee Phil Dowd rightly disallowed the effort for a foul on Manuel Almunia.

Arsenal finally clicked into gear on the hour mark when a fine save from Brad Friedel kept out William Gallas' close-range effort from Eduardo's knock-down.

Soon after Friedel parried Andrey Arshavin's left-footed drive the home side went in front through Cesc Fabregas' sublime free-kick.

The Spain international, so often Arsenal's talisman, settled the game late on when he lashed the ball past Friedel from Theo Walcott's fine through-ball.

The Gunners added the icing on the cake in injury time when Abou Diaby was given the freedom of the pitch before curling a delightful right-footed shot home in injury-time.

Started brightly

The hosts started brightly and Friedel saved well from defender Thomas Vermaelen at the far post following a corner, before Croatia striker Eduardo shot straight at the Villa keeper after collecting the ball from Diaby and turning in the box.

However, Villa - winners at Old Trafford just before Christmas - are a well-organised unit under Martin O'Neill and the physical presence of England forward Emile Heskey caused the Arsenal defence cause for concern.

Following a swift counter-attack by the visitors, Ashley Young saw his shot deflected behind off Alex Song.

The Cameroon midfielder - set to head off to the African Nations Cup next month - was lucky to only get a stern talking to by Dowd after hauling down Heskey as Villa looked to break quickly again.

From the resulting free-kick, Villa had the ball in the net, but only after Dunne bundled into Almunia, the effort correctly ruled out for the foul on the Arsenal keeper.

Arsenal, though, were soon back on the offensive, with Nasri's dipping effort deflected over and Song then just off target from the resulting corner.

Denilson was bundled down right on the edge of the penalty area but the Brazilian's effort hit the wall, then Bacary Sagna's follow-up flew over.

At the start of the second half, Diaby's run down the right was halted by Young, who picked up a yellow card for his troubles which rules the forward out of the Liverpool game on Tuesday.

Eduardo's deep free-kick was pushed away by Friedel before the Villa defence scrambled the ball off their goalline following a corner.

Cesc on

With 33 minutes left, Denilson was replaced by Fabregas.

Eduardo was unfortunate to see his close-range effort cleared by Warnock after a clever exchange with Arshavin down the left.

Friedel then denied the Russian with a full stretch save after Fabregas had weaved into the area, and Dunne cleared as Eduardo looked to knock the loose ball in.

On 65 minutes, Arsenal were awarded a free-kick 23 yards out when Dunne tripped Fabregas - and it proved costly as the Spaniard stepped up to curl a sublime effort up over the wall and into the top left corner.

Arsenal were lifted by the goal and looked full of confidence as they poured forward - and fittingly, the skipper helped Arsenal wrap up the points.

In the 81st minute, after a spell of Villa pressure, Traore hit a long diagonal pass out to Theo Walcott on the right. The substitute dashed forward before touching the ball into the path of the onrushing Fabregas, who swept home a 12th goal of the season.

The Spaniard, though, appeared to have aggravated his hamstring problem and was replaced by Aaron Ramsey for the closing stages.

Almunia made a brave save to deny Gabriel Agbonlahor, before Diaby netted Arsenal's third goal in stoppage-time, finishing low from the edge of the area.