Arsenal dealt hammer blow by Aston Villa as Gunners pair horribly feeble in title clash

Emilian Buendia struck a huge blow for Aston Villa and granted us all a genuine title race as Unai Emery’s side exposed Arsenal and two Gunners in particular.

Martin Keown was at pains to point out on commentary, as a man eager to come across as someone au fait with this new-fangled ‘pressing’, that Arsenal were working well to “force Aston Villa to go long”.

Even after the third instance of Emiliano Martinez comically waiting for the Arsenal forwards and midfielders to push on in order to isolate Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers with Gunners’ makeshift centre-back pairing, Keown remained adamant that this was a sign of Arsenal’s excellence rather than this being precisely what Unai Emery hoped would happen in order for Villa to realise their game plan.

When Villa failed to win first or second balls before playing quick passes in behind for Watkins to spin onto, which on one occasion forced David Raya to produce a stunning save to deny the England international after he had bullied Jurrien Timber, Arsenal players were giving the ball away when still stretched after those long balls, offering Villa the space to create chances which is often so hard to find against Mikel Arteta’s side.

It was Mikel Merino who was caught in possession by Matty Cash early on in a move which ended with the full-back smashing the ball through Raya’s legs to score his third Premier League goal of the season. And the utility striker was hooked at half-time after 45 minutes of inertia, along with Eberechi Eze, who looked predictably lost on the left wing again and was caught cold by Cash at the back post.

It took super-sub Leandro Trossard just seven minutes to bundle one in at the back post following some fine work from Declan Rice to dispossess Amadou Onana, and then Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka to combine on the right – which always looked like Arsenal’s most likely avenue – before Martinez inadvertently teed up the fab ‘finisher’.

Martinez made an excellent fingertip save to deny a stunning long-range drive by Odegaard, but after 15 minutes of pressure from Arsenal is was more Villa making the running in a second half where, try as Arteta might to turn the game in Arsenal’s favour through attacking substitutions, they never found anything like the attacking rhythm they showed in victory over Bayern Munich and Tottenham a couple of weeks ago.

A big reason why Arsenal were (and still are) big favourites to win the title and Aston Villa weren’t (but now are) title challengers is the supposed great disparity in the depth of the squads. And yet, it was the second-half substitutions which turned the game in Villa’s favour, much to the surprise of the increasingly opinionated Darren Fletcher on commentary.

“Jadon Sancho?!” was his reaction to the Manchester United loanee stripping off having decried the introduction of Lamare Bogarde as “a very bold decision”. Just say the players’ names when they’ve got the ball, mate.

It was Emiliano Buendia who scored their fully-deserved winner in the 94th minute having come off the bench, lifting his finish over two Arsenal legs to send Villa Park potty, but another substitute, Donyell Malen, held the ball up brilliantly in the build-up and Sancho’s header at the back post brought about the chaos in the box that saw Timber floundering around on the floor for what felt like a couple of minutes.

Riccardo Calafiori had a bit of a shocker. This might just have been the Italian’s worst game in an Arsenal shirt after he produced very little in attack and looked horribly suspect in defence, with two big cock-ups on the ball seeing Boubacar Kamara and then Donyell Malen spurn very good chances.

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Timber also a game to forget at centre-back as the Arsenal injuries and the constant shuffling in defence has finally started to cause problems.

It was his flicked header which led to Cash’s goal in a first half where he struggled to get to grips with Watkins. He was an extra stud away from conceding an own goal when he diverted the ball away from Raya’s waiting gloves. And he was slow to react and clear the ball in that incredible last-gasp moment in what we can now bill as a genuine title race.

Manchester City will be two points behind Arsenal if they beat Sunderland and Aston Villa are now just three points off following this quite brilliant win, in which they proved that not only their first XI but their squad has what it takes to win the biggest games against the best teams, and maybe, maybe stay the course and give Arsenal a run for their money.

And Arsenal will be delighted to welcome Wolves to the Emirates next, as what has been billed as a tough period they’ve negotiated well is now a run of five Premier League games in which they’ve picked up eight points from a possible 15 to give their rivals hope and shown fallibility in a squad very recently hailed as impeccable.