Ron Atkinson was impressed by his old club Aston Villa's victory at Arsenal on Saturday.

The former manager, who masterminded Villa's last away victory over the Gunners in 1993, was impressed with the teamwork and competitive spirit of Martin O'Neill's troops.

He told AVTV: "Villa were easily the better side. They gave a great team performance - there were absolutely no weak links in the team. Everybody did their job brilliantly.

"I thought the victory was comprehensive and thoroughly deserved.

"I thought Arsenal were inept. But that was primarily down to Villa getting amongst them - particularly Gareth Barry, Steve Sidwell and Stiliyan Petrov in midfield .

"They closed down throughout the game and they had Ashley Young and James Milner working their magic on the wings.

"And up-front, I thought Gabby ran his heart out. He worked the defence brilliantly and thoroughly deserved his goal.

"I like to see players with pace who run at people. Pace terrifies defenders and Villa have that in abundance, in the likes of Gabby and Ashley."