Isn’t it so typically ‘football’. Arsenal’s Premier League title charge derailed by the goalkeeper they sold, and the manager they fired? The so-called ‘Beautiful Game’ has a cruel habit of biting you on the backside, and Gunners supporters know that all too well after Emiliano Martinez’ heroics helped Unai Emery do the double over his old employers on a traumatic afternoon at the Emirates Stadium.
11 months to the day since that 3-0 defeat by Brighton and Hove Albion – the defeat which scuppered any lingering hopes Arsenal had of ending their long wait for a top-flight title – there was a shuddering feeling of deja vu spreading across the red half of North London.
Call it a smash and grab, call it a little lucky, but the fact is that – for the second time in two years – a calamitous home defeat appears to have gifted Manchester City the advantage as an enthralling title race enters it’s most decisive stage.
Arsenal, like Liverpool during their own coupon-busting defeat earlier in the day, had more than enough chances to claim all three points. Emi Martinez, sold by The Gunners back in 2020, denied Leandro Trossard with an outstanding stop late in the first-half.
Mikel Arteta even goes as far as to suggest that Aston Villa were fortunate not to be 3-0 or 4-0 down at the break. After the interval, however, the momentum shifted, Emery’s visitors posing a significant threat on the break even before Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins found the net in double-quick time.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa stun Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal
“We were struggling to bring the ball and do what we did in the first half. We lacked a lot of composure, we rushed things with the ball, we never had enough sequences in areas that we wanted like we did in the first half,” Arteta sighs.
“Credit to them as well. We lacked a lot in the second half and the game became more stretched, and more even without a lot of things happening really. Obviously, when we conceded the goals that was a big blow. And the second one even bigger in the manner in which it happened.”
Just three minutes after Bailey’s opener – Arsenal switching off as the substitute tapped in a searching Lucas Digne cross – the Golden Boot-chasing Ollie Watkins raced onto a fine Youri Tielemans through ball before producing a finish oozing with class and composure.
“When you lose, you have to recognise the quality of the opponent and move forward,” Arteta adds.
Declan Rice, Arsenal’s £105 million record signing, agrees with his manager, Villa bouncing back from a poor first half with a much-improved display after the break, Emery out-manoeuvring the man who replaced him in North London back in 2019.
Manchester City handed title advantage
“We’re gutted and disappointed we’ve lost a massive game,” Rice says. “When you create that many chances and have that many one-on-ones with the keeper or you get to the byline and you don’t quite get the cross, or don’t quite get the finish it’s very disappointing.
“We’ve got to be taking one of those chances because in games like this. Teams like Villa have got quality and can come back to haunt you and they did today.
“I think in the first half they gave us so much space. Then, second-half, they adapted to that. They closed everything up, and where we were having our success in the first half, they shut down completely. We didn’t have enough attempts on goal in the second half, that’s for sure, in a game where we should be winning.”
Manchester City’s 5-1 hammering of Luton Town means Pep Guardiola’s side are now two points clear with six games remaining. Aston Villa, meanwhile, have Champions League qualification in their own hands after Tottenham Hotspur were stunned at Newcastle United.
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