Heroes and Villains: Hat-trick hero Walters and appalling Aston Villa

It was certainly an interesting weekend in the Premier League with Arsenal cruising to a win over Aston Villa, Chelsea holding Manchester City at home and unsung hero Jonathan Walters hitting a hat-trick for Stoke City. Check out who made our list of heroes and villains!

Arsenal’s attack
The Gunners were in merciless form this weekend, with five different attacking stars striking against an awful Aston Villa side.

Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Hector Bellerin were all on target in Arsenal’s romp, earning an emphatic 5-0 triumph in London.

Arsene Wenger’s ferocious forwards helped shoot his side level on points with Southampton, behind only on goal difference in fifth.

Daniel Sturridge
Liverpool’s crucial win over high-flying West Ham United was capped off in style by returning striker Sturridge.

Not only did he make it on to the pitch after a five month absence through injury, the England international also sealed victory with the game’s second goal, brilliantly controlling Philippe Coutinho’s astute pass before blasting it home inside Adrian’s front post.

Jonathan Walters
On his 200th appearance for Stoke City, wonderful Walters became only the third ever Irishman to hit a Premier League hat-trick, helping his side to a 3-1 win over QPR.

The in-form Ireland striker completed a perfect treble, curling in an early right-footed effort before doubling the advantage with a neatly taken left-footed finish and heading home his third after 90 minutes.

Stoke’s prolific poacher became the first player to score a perfect hat-trick since Kevin Nolan and Romelu Lukaku in May 2013.

Aston Villa
Paul Lambert’s Villans were comprehensively thrashed by Arsenal at the Emirates, crashing to a heavy 5-0 thumping, and have now gone over 10 hours of football without a league goal.

Villa’s awful attacking form has seen them drop to within three points of the relegation zone after a run of eight matches without a win.