Premier League: Aston Villa vs Arsenal 2-4 Report

Aston Villa suffered injury-time pain as Arsenal scored late on to inflict a dramatic 4–2 defeat at Villa Park.

Emiliano Martinez dominated Aston Villa’s slide against his former club as Arsenal twice rallied and scored two late goals to beat Unai Emery’s side 4-2 and return to the top of the Premier League table.

Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho put Villa ahead in the first half on either side of Bukayo Saka’s reply, but Oleksandr Zinchenko restored the tie for the Gunners before a chaotic extra time.

Martinez’s extremely ill-fated own goal looked set to end the contest, but Gabriel Martinelli had time to score an open goal just before the final whistle as Arsenal relegated Manchester City back to second.

Certainly aware of where his old team’s weaknesses lay, Emery saw the Lions bleed first with just five minutes left on the clock, Matty Cash unleashing a swift counter-attack after stealing the ball from Zinchenko.

The Polish right-back immediately singled out Watkins, who easily held William Saliba’s attention and deftly found the far corner from a tight angle.

Villa’s penchant for early goals was well documented before the game and the local press was giving Arsenal – who looked particularly nervous in defense – a world of trouble.

However, the Gunners’ response to going back was unsurprisingly positive, and they came within inches of leveling things up in the 12th minute through Ben White, whose goal chip was miraculously deflected onto the crossbar from the outstretched leg of Tyrone Mings.

Villa’s lead was short-lived, however, as in the 16th minute, Mings headed in an accurate cross to Saka, who fired a fierce half-volley into the top of the net.

Despite being canceled out by Saka’s ninth goal of the season, Villa remained unfazed and continued to work their way through Arsenal’s lines, leading to a brilliant second for the hosts in the 31st minute.

A powerful move from the back ended with Alex Moreno crossing on the edge of the area which Emiliano Buendía deftly converted and the ball passed through Granit Xhaka’s legs to Coutinho who found the bottom corner with aplomb.

With all 11 players contributing to the defensive effort, Villa survived late pressure from Arsenal to go into the break with a one-goal lead intact, with Arteta resisting the urge to make half-time changes.

However, Saka did not move comfortably for most of the game after a challenge from Moreno – which dislodged his boots – and his run seemingly ended in the 51st minute when he fell to the pitch for treatment.

The 21-year-old would surprisingly continue to contribute to Arsenal’s attack, which saw Eddie Nketiah hit the post with a header in the 56th minute, but the North Londoners were well ahead early in the second period.

Lineups:

Subs not used: Sinisalo, Traoré, A Young, Chambers.

Subs not used: Turner, Kiwior, Nelson, Smith Rowe.

Scorers:

Yellow Cards:

Man Of the Match : Martin Ødegaard