After knocking out Manchester City on Wednesday, Aston Villa offered themselves a new Premier League leader this Saturday by beating Arsenal.
Manchester City scorer on Wednesday, Aston Villa received the former leader (until Liverpool’s victory) Arsenal for the 16th day of the Premier League. On a series of six consecutive victories, the Gunners were keen to regain the lead in the championship.
The Villans on a cloud
But it was Unai Emery’s men who attacked the match from the right end and opened the scoring thanks to John McGinn at the conclusion of a superb collective action (1-0, 7th). But worn out by their fantastic performance against City, the Villans left the ball to their opponent, who gradually took control of the match and in turn created several clear chances, but Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard failed to deceive the vigilance of Emiliano Martinez.
McGinn surprises Arsenal in the 6th minute 😱#AVLARS | #PremierLeague pic.twitter.com/ghUGPPxSto
— CANAL+ Foot (@CanalplusFoot) December 9, 2023
The second half resumes on the same basis and the Londoners monopolize the ball (more than 70% possession) and still push to equalize but Odegaard misses another clear opportunity. But the Aston Villa players held on and were even dangerous on the counterattack, without worsening the score.
Breathless and tense end to the match
In the 90th minute, Arsenal finally managed to equalize through Eddie Nketiah following a confused action, a goal ultimately refused after consulting the VAR for a prior handball from Kai Havertz, a decision which exploded an already melting Villa Park since the start of the meeting.
The Birmingham club have acquired another Premier League giant after knocking out Manchester City earlier in the week. Thanks to this 15th consecutive home success in the Premier League, Boubacar Kamara and his teammates temporarily climb onto the podium and come back to within one point of Arsenal. The top three are held in two points, and Manchester City could get back together if they succeed at Luton on Sunday.
