Mikel Arteta: "There is something missing"
“I think we played and competed and went about it for the third time in six days, to deliver that performance, that dominance and that attacking and those set-pieces, indvidually they were outstanding,” says Arsenal’s manager of his side in an interview with Sky Sports.
“Those players were absolutely dead and to perform like that for 97 minutes without looking to the bench or looking for excuses was so impressive. They just went about it and I think it’s the best game we’ve played against Villa since I’ve been here. I think the level wee are playing is so, so good but there is something missing. Today we cannot concede the kind of goals we let in.”
On the disallowed goal: “From one angle it looks [like a handball] and from the other it doesn’t. It’s difficult because you have so much emotion, you celebrate it and it’s taken away from you. It’s not easy.”
Gabriel Martinelli: "We have to keep going"
“It’s a disappointing day,” says the Arsenal winger in an interview with Sky Sports. “We wanted to win the game, but we have to keep going. We trust in ourselves, and we have to keep going and improving - it is a long journey to go. We have to focus on ourselves.
“That’s football, that’s the Premier League, the most difficult league in the world. We have to see the game and see what we have done wrong and improve for the next games. We know our qualities and we know the potential we have and we trust in ourselves.”
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Youri Tielemans: It's not an easy task"
“We came back really well into the game,” says the scorer of Villa’s opener in a chat with the BBC. “The [first] goal gave us freedom and belief. It’s not an easy task. They were on top of us for 60 minutes. I saw the space and tried to jump into it. Good goal.
“From our point of view [a good result] is always deserved. We take the point and move forward. They had many chances but we defended with our bodies on the line. Two-all is a good result for us. First half we had a couple of counters, misplaced passes from me which could have put Ollie Watkins in. We fought really well to come back into the game. Handball is handball when it is a goal. It is what it is.”
Match report: Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa
Premier League: With his side two goals up and looking home and hosed, Arteta could only watch on in horror as Youri Tielemans pulled one back for Aston Villa before Ollie Watkins volleyed home the equaliser. Ed Aarons reports from the Emirates Stadium …
Ollie Watkins: "That's what VAR is there for"
“Seeing [the handball] back there, I’m not sure … I think it’s gone in favour of us a little bit,” says the Aston Villa striker in an interview with Sky Sports. “If that had gone against us I think I would be a little disappointed. I dunno … but from that angle I’m not sure but that’s what VAR is there for.”
On Villa’s comeback: “Obviously we got the goal,” he says. “Lucas put in an unbelievable ball and Youri scored. Then we went up the pitch two minutes later and Youri nearly scored again. We got a lot of momentum from that and had a bit of faith that whenever we went forward, especially on transition because they were quite open and there were chances to be had.”
That disallowed Merino goal: Some Arsenal fans are posting clips of Arsenal’s disallowed “winner” online, claiming the ball did not hit Havertz’s hand or arm as Merino’s initial shot bounced up from the turf.
My immediate thought was that he’d handled the ball an no amount of slow-mo replays can convince me otherwise. As he tried to turn away from the ball, the ball appeared to hit his hip and then his right arm. Nobody else weems to making an issue of it, but we’ll find out what Mikel Arteta has to say in due course.
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An email: “That Cash spot-on delivery to the postage stamp-sized sweet spot on Watkins’ boot was spectacularly cool!” writes Peter Oh.
Full time: Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeep! A good game ends with Arsenal blowing a two-goal lead after goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz were cancelled out by strikes from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins.
Mikel Merino thought he had won it for Arsenal near the end, but his effort was correctly cancelled out for striking the hand of Kai Havertz on its way past Emi Martinez.
Arsenal now sit six points behind the Premier League leaders Liverpool having played one game more. Villa leapfrog Manchester City to go seventh.
90+8 min: Odegaard’s free-kick is poor and too close to Martinez, who catches the ball. It’s all over at the Emirates, wherre Aston Villa have come from two goals down to rescue a point.
90+7 min: Lucas Digne fouls Sterling and Arsenal have a free-kick wide on the right, in line with the edge of the penalty area.
90+5 min: Morgan Rogers gets booked for dissent as Arsenal continue to turn the screw. Trossard sends a low diagonal effort just wide of the far post after running on to a beautifully weighted through ball from Myles Lewis-Skelly. Trossard might have been offside but he should have at least put the ball in the back of the net so we could find out one way or the other.
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90+4 min: Sterling loses the ball to Jhon Duran on the edge of the Villa penalty area and then fouls his fellow substitute as he tries to win it back. He gets a yellow card and more precious time for Arsenal to find a winner is wasted.
90+3 min: Tielemans sends a speculative low effort wide of the Arsenal goal.
90+2 min: We’re into seven added minutes of added time and Martinez, a master of timewasting in the Villa goal, is in no hurry whatsoever to take a goal-kick.
90+1 min: Oh my! A game of pinball in the Villa penalty area sees Merino pounce on a loose ball and smash a shot off the left post. Havertz is unable to score on the follow-up.
Arsenal's "winner" is disallowed
Ouch! Following a VAR consultation, Merino’s effort is correctly disallowed because it hit Havertz’s hand on its way past Raya. Rice provided the cross, the ball was headed towards Merino and unfortunately for him, the hand of Havertz intervened to rob him of his big moment.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa (Merino 87)
Arsenal lead again! After excellent work down the left from Rice, the ball finds its way to Merino, whose shot into the ground appears to take a deflection off the hand of Havertz on its way into goal. That will be disallowed!
86 min: Arsenal press and probe with a real sense of urgency. Odegaard appears to dive under a challenge from Kamara and is incensed when he isn’t awarded a free-kick. Villa go forward on the break and Bogarde tests David Raya.
84 min: Villa substitution: Leon Bailey replaces Jacob Ramsey.
82 min: Arsenal substitution: Raheem Sterling comes on for Martinelli.
82 min: Partey pulls the ball into the path of Odegaard, whose shot into a thicket of bodies is blocked.
81 min: Mikel Merino tries to curl a cross into the path of Martinelli as he sprints towards the edge of the six-yard box but his delivery is crucially cut out by Konsa.
80 min: Aston Villa substitution: Jhon Duran comes on for their goalscorer Ollie Watkins.
79 min: Rice sends the free-kick from deep into the Arsenal box, where it’s headed out for a goal-kick by Havertz.
77 min: Merino goes to ground and wins a free-kick for Arsenal after being fouled by Kamara, who gets booked for his late challenge.
76 min: Villa break upfield with Cash on the ball. He’s robbed of possession by Lewis-Skelly, Arsenal win a free-kick deep in their own half and take it quickly. There’s an air of desperation about the home side going into these final 15 minutes – they really need a winner to keep the pressure on Liverpool.
74 min: Arsenal get back on the ball, pressing for a much-needed winner after suffering those setbacks from a position where they looked like they had everything under control. Declan Rice tries his luck from distance but his shot whistles wide of the goal.
72 min: Matty Cash is forced off the pitch to get a bleeding lip cleaned up and is now slurping from an energy drink as he waits for permission to come back on.
70 min: Watkins, a childhood Arsenal fan, was about to be replaced by Jhon Duran when he scored that goal but he has now forced his manager into a rethink. Duran has his tracksuit top back on and has now retaken his seat on the bench.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa (Watkins 68)
Villa level the scores! Arsenal failed to clear that free-kick convincingly and Watkins beats Raya with a sweet sidefoot volley at the far post after connecting with a cross from Matty Cash that Kai Havertz should have cleared. Watkins was left completely unmarked by Thomas Partey.
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67 min: Leandro Trossard is booked for a robust and unecessary challenge on Ollie Watkins out by the touchline. Villa sent the ball into the penalty area, where Merino heads clear.
66 min: Arsenal win another corner. Odegaard sends the ball into the Villa box, where Morgan Rogers heads clear.
66 min: The ball dropping over his shoulder, Martinelli sends a half-decent volley fizzing over the Villa bar.
63 min: Villa are right back in this game after looking down and out as recently as three minutes ago. Unai Emery is booked for kicking the ball away when it looked like he was just returning it from his technical area to quite near the scene of a restart. It’s not just Arsenal players who are victimised by these over-fussy referees – their former managers are victims of The Conspiracy as well, it seems.
61 min: I say a diving header but truth be told it was more of a stooping one. And what’s this?!?!?! Tielemans goes this close to scoring his second after pouncing on a poor clearance from Lewis-Skelly but strikes the post with his low drive. He should have scored!
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa (Tielemans 60)
Villa pull a goal back. Lucas Digne sends a wonderful cross into the Arsenal box, where Youri Tielemans pulls away from Merino to send a diving header past David Raya from six yards out. That’s his first Premier League goal of the season.
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58 min: Villa win a corner from which Arsenal break upfield. They attack down the right side of the pitch but Ollie Watkins is able to get back and regain possession for the visitors.
57 min: Villa win a free-kick wide on the left, a long way from the Arsenal goal. The delivery is poor and it’s cleared by Kai Havertz, the first defender.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Aston Villa (Havertz 55)
Arsenal double their lead. Trossard takes on Cash down the left and sends another good cross into the Villa box. Havertz makes good contact and from five yards out volleys the ball past Martinez, who again got plenty on the ball but was unable to keep it out.
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53 min: Arsenal continue to control possession, building patiently from the back. At which point Gabriel runs out of patience and sends a long, hopelessly overhit diagonal pass in the general direction of Leandro Trossard. The ball sails out of play.
51 min: On this occasion, Odegaard’s inswinger is met by Merino at the far post but Villa are able to scramble the ball clear when he fails to steer his header on goal.
49 min: Trossard picks out Myles Lewis-Skelly with a wonderful pass inside Cash. The young full-back drills the ball across the face of the Villa goal but there’s nobody on hand in an Arsenal shirt to tap home. Villa clear for a corner and Rice’s delivery is headed out of Martinez’s hands by Tyrone Mings for another corner.
47 min: Arsenal free-kick, wide on the left. Odegaard swings the ball across the face of goal, trying to pick out the run of Kai Havertz. Watkins does enough to put the Arsenal striker off.
47 min: Boubacar Kamara hooks a clearance downfield from inside his own box as Arsenal pick up where they left off, putting Villa firmly under the cosh.
Second half: Arsenal 1-0 Aston Villa
46 min: Play resumes with Aston Villa left-back Lucas Digne on for Ian Maatsen who had a torrid first half trying to contain Gabriel Martinelli and was badly at fault for Arsenal’s goal.
Villa have used two of their five substitutes already and it’s probably fair to say both changes have come earlier than planned – if indeed he was even planning on making either – by their manager.
You’ll remember that Amadou Onana was forced off with a muscle strain in the first half and replaced by Lemare Bogarde, who is not as good as the man he replaced but has at least shown considerably more enthusiasm than his uncle Winston did during his ill-fated but highly lucrative spell at Chelsea.
An email: “I can’t help but wonder if Aston Villa aren’t primed for a stumble like the winless November they endured,” writes Eric Peterson. “The 5-1-3 league run they’re on has an ‘emperor has no clothes’ vibe to it, with wins over Southampton, Leicester and Everton in that stretch. That plus the exertions of two Champion League games might make getting through the next fortnight a bit of a chore.”
An email: “With noted chance-fluffers Darwin Núñez and Adana Traoré both scoring today, surely this augurs well for Kai Havertz,” ponders Kari Tulinius.
Half-time: Arsenal 1-0 Aston Villa
Gabriel Martinelli’s strike separates the sides at the break, with Arsenal well worth their lead despite having to be constantly mindful of the threat posed by Villa in general and Ollie Watkins in partcular on the counter-attack.
45+2 min: Mings puts the ball out for a corner under pressure from Martinelli, when kicking it out for a throw-in looked the more sensible and easier option. Odegaard’s inswinger is cleared at the near post and that’s it for the first half.
45+1 min: We’re into time added on in the first half and Arsenal are worth their slender lead, having severely restricted Aston Villa’s attacking opportunities. David Raya has had to make one save for the hosts, who have otherwise dominated, albeit without creating too much in the way of scoring opportunities.
44 min: Morgan Rogers and Leandro Trossard have a contretemps which results in the Villa midfielder getting a ticking-off from referee Chris Kavanagh. I think Rogers shaped to butt the Arsenal winger but didn’t actually make any contact with him.
41 min: That Merino shot was one you’d expect the likes of Bukayo Saka, Mo Salah or Andros Townsend to score in their sleep, but the Spanish midfielder didn’t demonstrate quite the same finesse as the aforementioned trio.
40 min: Merino curls a decent shooting opportunity wide after receiving a neat pass from Partey following good work down the right from Leandro Trossard.
38 min: A Partey pass is prodded into the path of Trossard by Maatsen but the Arsenal forward balloons the ball over the bar before sinking his face into his hands.
37 min: Aston Villa substitution: Amadou Onana is forced off with what looks like a hamstring injury and is replaced by Lamare Bogarde.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Aston Villa (Martinelli 35)
Arsenal lead! Gabriel Martinelli lunges in front of a dozing Maatsen to prod home a Leandro Trossard cross from the left. Martinez got a big hand on the ball and thought he’d kept it out but the referee points to the gizmo on his wrist to inform him and everyone else at the Emirates that the ball had crossed the line.
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32 min: A terrible throw-in from Thomas Partey allows Ollie Watkins to try and lob the bouncing ball over David Raya from distance. His effort goes over the bar.
31 min: Myles Lewis-Skelly wins the ball from Morgan Rogers and Arsenal work it through to Havertz. He’s flagged for offside but only after failing to hit the target.
30 min: Mikel Arteta is booked for ranting at the fourth official over a throw-in he felt should have been awarded to Arsenal but wasn’t. Pick your battles, Mikel.
29 min: We approach the half-hour mark of an encounter that has been absorbing but not massively entertaining. Following Liverpool’s win over Brentford earlier, a Villa goal would really put the cat amongst the pigeons for us neutrals.
27 min: Kai Havertz sends a low, skidding effort from a few yards outside the Villa penalty area well wide of the right post.
26 min: A Martinelli cross from the byline fails to trouble Emi Martinez, who leaps unchallenged to pluck the ball from the air near his far post.
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25 min: Mikel Merino goes to ground hurt after coming out second best from a coming-together with Matty Cash. He’ll live and is quickly back on his feet after a short breather.
24 min: Jurrien Timber does well to get back and intercept a through ball down the centre aimed at Ollie Watkins by Youri Tielemans.
23 min: A Havertz cross from the right is partially blocked by Jacob Ramsey, who is back to help out Ian Maatsen in defence. Villa clear their lines.
21 min: Arsenal free-kick, wide on the right a long way out. Rice and Odegaard stand over it, play it short and the cross, when it comes, is too high for it’s intended target, Gabriel.
19 min: Tielemans tries to play Watkins in behind the Arsenal defence but his dink over Gabriel isn’t high enough and the defender is able to leap and head the ball clear.
18 min: We’re treated to a save for the cameras from Martinez, who dives theatrically to his left to keep out a Trossard shot from distance that took a little deflection off Matty Cash. That nick might have wrong-footed the Argentinian goalkeeper.
17 min: Onana spins Odegaard on the edge of the Villa penalty area and drives forward, playing the ball wide to Maatsen. Villa win a throw-in deep in Arsenal territory but nothing comes of it.
15 min: Trossard takes on and beats Cash down the right but his cross into the Villa box is headed away by Ezri Konsa.
14 min: Having been completely under the cosh for the opening 10 minutes, Villa have survived the early Arsenal onslaught unscathed and got themselves a foothold in the game.
13 min: Maatsen advances on the Arsenal penalty area and tries to play the ball inside. His pass is blocked, the ball breaks back into his path and he brings a smart save out of David Raya with a powerful shot.
12 min: Villa finally get the ball out of their own half and take a long throw-in. Tyrone Mings can only head the ball up in the air and Arsenal tidy up at the back.
9 min: Rice takes this corner and his delivery to the far post is sublime. The ball is headed across the face of goal by Gabriel and drops for Thomas Partey. A pile of bodies on the ground in front of him, the result of some penalty area pulling and dragging by players from both teams as the ball came in, prevent him from scoring from six or seven yards out.
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8 min: Odegaard takes the corner, looking a bit groggy after after a collision with Amadou Onana. Ezri Konsa heads his latest dead ball delivery into the box out for yet another corner.
8 min: Martinelli does well to keep a pass from Jurrien Timber in play down by the byline. He wins another corner, putting the ball out of play off Ian Maatsen.
6 min: Odegaard and Rice combine down the right and the England international sends in a cross that is headed out for another Arsenal corner. Odegaard’s delivery is cleared at the near post.
5 min: Thomas Partey tries to play Martinelli in behind with a ball over the top, but Martinez is quick off his line to gather the slightly overhit pass. Was Martinelli offside? Possibly but the flag stays down.
4 min: Rice picks out Martinelli with a cross to the far post from the left but the winger is unable to get much power behind his volley on the stretch from a tight angle. Martinez saves fairly comfortably. It’s been a good start for Arsenal.
3 min: Rice’s inswinger is met by Martinelli at the far post but Villa clear his header across the face of goal.
2 min: Leandro Trossard, Gabriel and Mikel Merino combine down the left and win Arsenal’s first corner of the game off Matty Cash.
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Arsenal v Aston Villa is go ...
1 min: Villa get the ball rolling in a game Arsenal really need to win if they are to maintain the pressure on Liverpool in the race to the title. The ball quickly finds its way back to Emi Martinez, who almost plays Tyrone Mings into trouble with a pass he wasn’t expecting. Somewhat panicked, the Villa central defender plays the ball wide to Ian Maatsen.
Not long now: Referee Chris Kavanagh and his team of match officials lead out both sets of players, with Martin Odegaard and Emi Martinez captaining the sides. Kick-off in the fifth and final Premier League match of the day is just a few minutes away.
Today’s Premier League results
We’ve had four away wins in the four top flight games played so far today. Can Villa make it five out of five to leave Liverpool seven points clear of Arsenal at the top of the league with a game in hand?Emery’s side dealt Arsenal’s title hopes a hammerblow at the Emirates in April last season and will be hopefull of doing exactly the same today.
Brentford 0-2 Liverpool
Leicester City 0-2 Fulham
West Ham 0-2 Crystal Palace
Arsenal v Aston Villa 5.30pm (GMT)
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Brentford 0-2 Liverpool: Nunez scores his second, cutting inside and roofing the ball past Mark Flekken after running on to a pass from Harvey Elliott. Liverpool left it late but look to have got the job done.
Brentford 0-1 Liverpool: On a day of profligacy and poor finishing from assorted Liverpool players, an uncharacteristically composed strike from Darwin Nunez looks to have won all three points for his side in added time at the Gtech Stadium.
Brentford v Liverpool: With five minutes to go, Thomas Frank’s side are currently holding Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium, so as things stand Arsenal could move within two points of the League leaders (having played one game more) with a win over Villa.
Today’s match officials
Referee: Chris Kavanagh.
Assistants: Lee Betts and Neil Davies.
Fourth official: John Busby.
VAR: John Brooks.
Assistant VAR:Darren Cann
Mikel Arteta: Speaking ahead of this game yesterday, Arsenal’s manager reflected on his side’s win over Spurs on Tuesday night before turning his thoughts to tonight’s task.
“I loved the attitude that the team played with, a great occasion in front of our people, the atmosphere was brilliant but we move on to the next one, that’s a big game,” he said. “We will try as hard as possible to prepare in the best way to win. We know the difficulty of the team that they are, that’s why they are performing so well. Great players, and a great coach.”
On Arsenal’s title credentials: “If we refer to the stats, the stats said that we were the best team in the league but the reality is that we didn’t win the league so we still need to improve and be better,” he said. “We are playing to win and that’s exactly where we want to be. The pressure comes from within. You have to thrive to be the best that you possibly can be.”
Those teams: William Saliba is a conspicuous absentee for Arsenal, having pulled up lame with a hamstring strain towards the end of his side’s win over Spurs in midweek.
We can probably expect to see Jurrien Timber fill in at centre-back alongside Gabriel, with Thomas Partey lining up at right-back. This game has also come too soon for Riccardo Calafiori, who is not in the matchday squad. Myles Lewis-Skelly keep his place at left-back, where he impressed his nan with his tough tackling against Tottenham.
Unai Emery brings in Ian Maatsen at left-back for Villa, with Lucas Digne missing out. New signing Donyell Malen is on a strong substitutes’ bench, where he’ll be able to make smalltalk with Jhon Duran and Leon Bailey, among other new teammates.
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Arsenal v Aston Villa line-ups
Arsenal: Raya, Partey, Timber, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Odegaard, Merino, Trossard, Martinelli, Havertz.
Subs: Neto, Tierney, Kiwior, Kacurri, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Sterling, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen, Onana, Kamara, Rogers, Tielemans, Ramsey Watkins
Subs: Olsen, Gauci, Bogarde, Digne, Nedeljkovic, Buendia, Bailey, Malen, Duran
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Early team news
Gabriel Jesus, Ethan Nwaneri, Bukayo Saka, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all sidelined with injury, but Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori could return from injury after a three-game absence. Whether or not he will start ahead of Myles Lewis-Skelly, who played so well against Tottenham, remains to be seen.
Unai Emery is without Pau Torres, John McGinnn and Ross Barkley, who are all injured. Diego Carlos is also expected to be unavailable because of a minor niggle. The defender was linked with a move to Fenerbahce by his manager yesterday and is expected to leave Villa before the end of the transfer window.
In better news for Emery, the Spaniard can call on Donyell Malen, the 25-year-old Dutch winger who signed for Villa from Borussia Dortmund yesterday and could make his Premier League debut at the home of the club where he spent two years as a youth team player.
“He’s used to playing as a seven, sometimes an 11 on the left, but also as a number 10,” said Unai Emery of Malen. “He’s always close to the opponent’s box and scores and assists goals - we will need a player like him to be a threat to the opponent in behind.”
Premier League: Arsenal v Aston Villa
Following Tuesday night’s home win over Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal welcome Aston Villa to the Emirates for what could be a sterner test of their title credentials than the one they passed fairly easily in midweek.
Unbeaten in four games, Aston Villa arrive in London on the back of three consecutive wins and their manager Unai Emery will be hopeful his team can deliver the goods on a return to an old stomping ground where he unable to work his managerial magic. Kick-off at the Emirates Stadium is at 5.30pm (GMT) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
