Cesc Fabregas came off the bench to score twice as Arsenal defeated English Premier League top four rivals Aston Villa 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Victory saw Arsenal move up into second place although they will drop back down to third if reigning champions Manchester United beat Hull in Sunday's other match. Villa stayed fourth but defeat ended the Midlands club's eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Gunners captain Fabregas, a second-half replacement for Denilson, fired the home side in front with a superbly struck 65th minute free-kick from the edge of the box that curled past the right hand of diving keeper Brad Friedel.

And with nine minutes left, the Spain international midfielder latched onto a through-ball from Theo Walcott before coolly hitting home to make it 2-0. However, it seemed as if he may have aggravated an existing hamstring injury in the process and, after just 28 minutes on the pitch, Fabregas was taken off by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

But the Gunners had something else to cheer in stoppage time when Abou Diaby made it 3-0 against a Villa team that had won their four previous league matches without conceding a goal.