It was painful, but Aston Villa got through it once again. In a fiercely contested duel between third and second in the Premier League, the Villans had the last word to beat Arsenal this Saturday at Villa Park (1-0). If everything had started at full speed, like John McGinn’s opening score with a spectacular collective action (9th, 1-0), Unai Emery’s players ultimately had to draw on their resources to keep this advance. Kept afloat by an Emiliano Martinez of the big nights, huge against Odegaard (39th) and decisive a few moments later on a strike from Jesus (42nd), the Villans were finally able to show resilience to keep their clean sheet.
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Fortunately, one of Martinez’s rare lapses, from a corner (57th), had no impact on the final result. The goal ultimately refused to the Gunners for a handball from Havertz at the end of the match either (90th). Thanks to this new success, Aston Villa have an eighth home victory in as many matches this season in the league, a fifteenth taking into account last season. Note that Unai Emery’s players have only been beaten once in their last 14 matches in all competitions. In the standings, they also consolidate their third place, four points behind their opponent of the day, Arsenal.
