Arsenal, the North London side, claimed three massive points as they go four points Clear of fellow champions league hopefully Manchester united.
Mikel Arteta men bounced back to winning ways after they saw their seven games winning streak come to an end following their mid-week defeat to Liverpool.
Arsenal dominated the opening exchanges like they did in the thier mid week game against Liverpool,but were criticized for their poor finishing, Bukayo Saka ensured that any talks of dip in form was quenched as he put his side in front with a smart finish.Bukayo Saka (20 years 195 days) became the youngest Englishman to score five away goals in a single Premier League season for Arsenal.
Although thier fine play deserved more than just the solitary goal in the first half,Emil smith Rowe fired over the bar early on, Thomas Partey then fired straight at Emi Martinez when he looked in a good position to score.
Alexander Lacazette was destined to put his side ahead but saw his shot impeded by his own player, before Arsenal scored their 2000th goal in the premier league with Saka’s strike.
Aston villa managed to cause the Arsenal backline some problems as John McGinn couldn’t connect with his strike,Olie Watkins then saw his shot clip Ben Leno’s post.
A second successive defeat for below par Villa saw them remain ninth on the table
Arsenal were missing three first team staters, Martinelli, Ramsdale and Tomiyasu but got, three more big points.
Arteta spoke about Ramsdale injury when he was asked by the press saying;
“He wasn’t comfortable in the last 50 or 60 minutes against Liverpool. He had a proper injury. The minute he found out he couldn’t be here [to play], he wanted to be here to support Bernd, which tells you about a lot of things behind the scenes.”
This was a significant test for Arsenal, and they came through – again. 1st half excellent and in the 2nd they defended the box brilliantly.Thought Partey and Gabriel were massive as they defended well in the game.
Arteta also spoke about his sides chances of finishing in the top four this season;
“There’s still 10 games to go and you can see how small the margins are. The key is that we are there [in the top four] & that we believe we can do it”
“We managed to do the things we wanted to do in the match & I think we deserved to win the game. The connection between the players & the fans is exceptional & that gives you a lot of energy & belief”
Arteta on the win said
“Its a very big win for us. I thought we played fantastically well, but we didn’t put the game to bed when we had the chances. Then you suffer, but we showed the resilience to win. Villa are a very good team & to come here is always extremely difficult”
