Arsenal’s hopes of catching Premier League leaders Liverpool have been handed an emphatic blow on Saturday as they have been held to a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.
The Gunners have been two objectives forward due to strikes from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz, however a quickfire double from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins turned the sport on its head after the break and leaves Arsenal six factors behind Liverpool, who even have a recreation in hand.
How the sport unfolded
Martinelli precipitated a scare for the guests early on with an acrobatic volley, as did a barrage of early Arsenal corners. It took some time for Villa to settle however David Raya was quickly known as on to disclaim a strong Ian Maatsen shot from shut vary.
Arsenal did an excellent job of controlling possession within the first half, however their ongoing struggles with creating probabilities continued as Villa’s inflexible again line comfortably repelled every little thing despatched their means inside the primary half-hour.
Ten minutes earlier than the interval, Arsenal lastly stepped issues up. Leandro Trossard’s vicious cross was poked in direction of objective by Martinelli, who was allowed to run off in celebration when goal-line know-how confirmed Emiliano Martinez’s determined makes an attempt to scramble the ball away had failed.
Trossard was the architect for Arsenal’s second shortly after the break. After cooking Matty Money, his wonderful cross was met with a sensible volley from Havertz which fizzed off Martinez and into the again of the web within the blink of an eye fixed to offer the Gunners some respiration room.
Villa fired their means again into the sport shortly after. Lucas Digne’s pleasant cross from deep was met by the onrushing Tielemans, who headed past Raya to reignite the match as a contest, and the Belgian may have simply tied issues up simply seconds later when his managed strike struck the skin of the publish.
Villa sensed a gap and Watkins took it with 20 minutes to go. Money redeemed himself with an excellent cross of his personal in in direction of the Villa striker, who crashed a volley off the underside of the bar to arrange a captivating finale.
It appeared like Arsenal have been about to grab a late winner as Mikel Merino powered a deflected effort into the again of the web, however a fast VAR test revealed the ricochet got here from Havertz’s arm and took the rating again to 2-2.
Merino hit the publish in stoppage time as Arsenal pushed for the winner they wanted to maintain tempo with Premier League leaders Liverpool, whereas the electrical Trossard despatched a strike trickling agonisingly broad of Martinez’s objective, however there was to be no reward for Arsenal’s endeavour as they slipped six factors behind Arne Slot’s facet.
Take a look at the participant scores from Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa right here.
When Havertz wheeled away in celebration for Arsenal’s second objective, this one appeared executed and dusted. The Gunners appeared comfy and do not have a repute for throwing away leads on dwelling soil.
Simply how Arsenal allowed Villa to get again stage will want analyzing. The guests have been providing nothing earlier than the hour mark, when a sequence of sensible crosses noticed them decide by means of the Premier League’s meanest defence with relative ease.
It was towards Villa final season that Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes fell aside. Whereas it is too early to make such comparisons this time round, there is not any denying this one will damage Arteta.
There was trigger for concern when the group sheet emerged and William Saliba was nowhere to be seen. The Frenchman is battling what Mikel Arteta claims is a minor harm, so it was Jurrien Timber who joined Gabriel on the coronary heart of Arsenal’s defence.
Each Gabriel and Timber loved some tidy particular person moments up towards Watkins, however because the clock ticked on, there was a way of confusion amongst Arsenal’s again line. Two Villa crosses have been allowed to float past them because the Gunners handed the guests a route again into the sport.
There was a transparent lack of a composed, bodily presence like Saliba’s, and Arsenal have been made to endure with out their rock on the again.
The lack of Bukayo Saka, adopted by Gabriel Jesus’ ACL harm, has seen loads of questions raised about these remaining in Arsenal’s ahead line, with the primary line of questioning being whether or not any of these nonetheless standing are genuinely able to inspiring a title problem.
Trossard clearly took that personally, delivering a brutally impactful exhibiting which noticed him torment Matty Money from begin to end.
The Belgian’s devilish crosses have been an excessive amount of for Villa to cope with and he deservedly walked away with two spectacular assists, and he got here inside inches of profitable it for his facet with a late strike that trickled marginally past Martinez’s far publish.
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