Goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey fired Arsenal to 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park.
After several wasted chances from Villa in the opening 65 minutes, Trossard fired Arsenal in front with a 67th minute strike from Bukayo Saka’s cutback pass via Morgan Rogers’ deflection.
Partey sealed Arsenal’s victory with a 77th minute shot into the bottom right corner from another cutback pass by Saka.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners now sit third in the table on goal difference behind Brighton, after Fabian Hürzeler’s Seagulls beat Manchester United 2-1 at the AMEX Stadium in the lunchtime kick-off.
Speaking post-match, Arteta praised his players for showing “….a lot of personality and understood the game better and better as the game was going,” to clinch a clinical win.
The Spaniard also spoke of his belief that this gutsy win could benefit his team in their hunt for the title.
“So when a team now starts to be equipped that way, and they start to be able to navigate through different context in a match, then becomes a team that can win in any place, and today we’ve shown that.”
Kick-off was delayed five minutes due to communication issues between the refereeing and VAR teams.
Once the match commenced, both teams were initially cagey until a seventh minute attack from Villa was intercepted, which triggered an Arsenal counter-attack via Gabriel Martinelli on the left.
The Brazilian soon found Saka with a deep square-ball pass, but the England winger’s curled cross towards the left corner was punched away by Emiliano Martinez.
Villa however were hit by a hamstring injury to Matty Cash in the 13th minute which forced him to come off, and Kosta Nedeljkovic brought on in his place.
Arsenal however continued to enjoy the initial early chances as Saka rifled wide of the left corner via deflection in the 16th minute from Martin Odegaard’s pass.
Gabriel though highlighted how sloppy Arsenal could be at the back at times as he dawdled on the ball in the 25th minute, which saw him lose the ball to Morgan Rogers who teed up Ollie Watkins with a shot wide of the left corner.
Tensions boiled over in the 34th minute after John McGinn smashed a shot straight into William Saliba’s stomach, which caused a brief fracas which was quickly snuffed out.
Neither team eventually could find a breakthrough goal before half-time despite six minutes of first-half injury-time.
Villa came out after the break and dominated much of the attack but David Raya spared Arsenal’s blushes in the 54th minute as Amadou Onana’s shot hit the bar and fell for Watkins to nod in but Raya crucially punched the ball away from goal.
Onana then nodded over the bar from a 58th minute corner as Villa continued to waste chances.
Arsenal almost broke the deadlock six minutes later but Odegaard’s pass to Saka inside the box, only for Martinez to block Saka’s scruffed touch.
Ezri Konsa volleyed wide across from a 66th minute free-kick but Villa were left ruing those chances a minute later.
Saka and Odegaard played an one-two move into the box towards the right-side goal-line, from which Saka calmly cut back for Trossard to rifle into the right corner to put the Gunners ahead via slight deflection from Rogers.
Arsenal doubled their lead in the 77th minute as Trossard delivered a low cross to Saka, who opted to lay off the ball for Partey to rifle into his near-right corner via Martinez’s deflection.
The result left Arsenal third in the table behind Brighton on goal difference, whilst Villa are down to 12th.
What’s Next?
Villa head across to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester in a Midlands derby at 3pm BST, on Saturday 31 August.
Arsenal host Brighton at the Emirates Stadium earlier that day, at 12:30pm BST live on TNT Sport 1 in the UK.
Teams
Aston Villa – Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash (Nedeljkovic 16′), Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne (Maatsen 76′), Amadou Onana (Barkley 76′), Youri Tielemans, John McGinn (Ramsey 65′), Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins (Duran 65′)
Substitutes: Joe Gauci, Diego Carlos, Ian Maatsen, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Ross Barkley, Emiliano Buendia, Jaden Philogene, Jacob Ramsey, Jhon Duran
Arsenal – David Raya, Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel, Jurrien Timber (Calafiori 79′), Declan Rice, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli (Trossard 65′), Bukayo Saka (Nelson 88′), Kai Havertz
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior, Riccardo Calafiori, Jorginho, Reiss Nelson, Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard, Eddie Nketiah
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