Mesut Ozil is the assists machine, there is no doubt about that.
However, nobody would have expected the German to notch up three assists in the manner he did against Stoke City, of all people, in a 3-1 win in the English Premier League.
All of Arsenal's goals came from setpieces - yes Arsenal's, not Stoke's -- with Ozil at the forefront of all, as Aaron Ramsey, who else, Per Mertesacker and Bacary Sagna all gleefully accepted the service to help Arsenal go to the Premier League summit.
Arsenal move two points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool after five matches, with Tottenham capable of joining them on 12 points if they beat Cardiff City later on.
Ozil was expectedly handed his home debut, with Serge Gnabry given a golden opportunity to show his skills after Arsene Wenger decided to make a late change in place of the ill Theo Walcott.
As expected, the Gunners got off to a bright start, looking like the confident side that have been unbeaten since that loss in the first game of the season.
It took the home side only five minutes to take the lead, and of course it had to be Ramsey that started things off for Arsenal.
Mesut Ozil tested Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic with a freekick, with Ramsey, quick as a flash, on hand to turn in the rebound.
Stoke were not as dominated by Arsenal as one would have thought, with Steven NZonzi, in particular, having a really good game in the centre of midfield. Marko Arnautovic also carried a serious threat out on the left and the away side did look capable of causing the Arsenal defence a problem or two.
After some pressing and probing from the Gunners which came to nought, Stoke pulled level in the 26th minute.
Nzonzi picked Arnautovic out at the far left-hand post with a wonderful ball over the top. The Austrian's first-time shot cannoned off the post with the ball falling kindly to Geoff Cameron, who squeezed his shot past the despairing dive of Wojciech Szczesny.
Arsenal, ironically, were looking dangerous against this big and burly Stoke side on set-pieces and Mertesacker fired a warning header off a corner, which was cleared by Erik Pieters, with Begovic probably failing to get to the ball had it gone past the defender.
The second time, though, it did go in with Mertesacker directing his header brilliant to the bottom of the net off a corner from Ozil in the 36th minute.
Stoke came out looking for an equalizer in the second half, and even if Arsenal were never really in deep trouble, the away side were a little better in the opening few minutes.
However, it was always going to be about one more goal for Arsenal and it came in the 72nd minute. Yet again Ozil was the provider, and again off a set-piece, with Sagna, scoring one of those rare goals, rising high to send a looping header into the net.
Wenger now had the luxury to make a few changes, with the Frenchman giving a chance to Ryo Miyaichi, while vice-captain Mikel Arteta was given his first game of the season after making a return from injury.
Ramsey nearly had his second right at the end, but it did not matter too much as Arsenal, with their seventh straight win in all competitions, celebrated going back to the top of the table.
In the other game, goals from Michu and Nathan Dyer helped Swansea get the better of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
