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Today’s early afternoon kick-off in the Premier League saw a tight game at Villa Park, but in the end, it was the home side that came out on top. Aston Villa defeated Arsenal 1-0, meaning that Dean Smith’s side have now done the double over the Gunners after beating them at the Emirates in November.
The winning goal actually came after just two minutes through Ollie Watkins, who has now scored four goals in his last five Premier League games.
It was a largely even match from then on, but despite Arsenal pouring the pressure on in the second half, Villa stood firm and collected a precious three points.
Here are five talking points from Aston Villa’s win over Arsenal.
#1 Arsenal were the architects of their own downfall – again
This Wednesday saw Arsenal play some of the best football they’d played all season, as they tore Wolves apart in the first half of their game. However, the Gunners ended up being the architects of their own downfall, suffering two red cards and collapsing to a 2-1 defeat.
Mikel Arteta’s side once again brought about their own defeat in this match. After an early Villa attack broke down, it looked like Cedric Soares had an easy clearance on. However, he misplaced a pass horrendously, allowing Bertrand Traore to dart into the box.
Traore poked the ball across to Ollie Watkins, and his shot deflected off Rob Holding and into the net past the despairing Mat Ryan.
Arteta must’ve been so frustrated by this goal. Not only did Cedric make a terrible error with his weak pass, but Holding should’ve been far tighter to Watkins – the only Villa player in the box – and should never have allowed him to get his shot away.
Had this mistake not happened, who knows what the result of this game could’ve been?
Essentially, the lesson for Arsenal has to be that to succeed in the Premier League these days, and you cannot make cheap errors like this one.
#2 Aston Villa defended remarkably well
After conceding with just two minutes gone in this game, Arsenal had well over 90 minutes to find an equalizer when you take added time into account. But thanks to Aston Villa’s incredible defensive performance, they never really came close.
The Gunners had 14 shots on goal during this game but only managed a total of three on target. And only Granit Xhaka’s wonderfully struck first-half free-kick really tested Emiliano Martinez.
Every one of Villa’s defenders were phenomenal today, while their deeper midfielders John McGinn and Marvelous Nakamba also screened the defense well.
Even attackers like Jack Grealish, Bertrand Traore, and Ollie Watkins did plenty of defensive work.
The biggest praise should be reserved for Tyrone Mings and Matty Cash, though. Mings made a ludicrous amount of key blocks and last-ditch tackles, while Cash was able to shackle a number of Gunners players, from Nicolas Pepe to Bukayo Saka.
Watching this display, it’s easy to understand why only Manchester City have kept more clean sheets than Aston Villa this season.
#3 Does Dean Smith get enough credit as a coach?
Aston Villa’s improvement has long been noted during the current season, and most of the time, the credit tends to go to their recruitment. And indeed, Ollie Watkins, Bertrand Traore, Matty Cash, Ross Barkley, and Emiliano Martinez have had a tremendous effect.
However, does Aston Villa boss Dean Smith deserve more credit for the improvement of his other players? Villa stayed up by the skin of their teeth last season, largely due to Jack Grealish's brilliance.
And while Grealish has been outstanding again this season, Villa’s success has largely been built on their rock-solid defense. And three of those players – Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, and Matt Targett – were all at the club last season. None of them looked as good as they do now.
The same could also be said for John McGinn and fringe players like Marvelous Nakamba – who was excellent today – and Trezeguet.
Aston Villa – along with West Ham – are clearly the Premier League’s most improved side this season. Maybe it’s time to give Smith, who is still largely unheralded, much more credit. He’s clearly one of the best coaches operating in the Premier League.
#4 Arsenal still lack a cutting edge
This was the third time in a row that Aston Villa have defeated Arsenal, and it’s notable that in each of those games, the Gunners came away with more possession and a large number of shots on goal.
Today, Mikel Arteta’s side had 66% possession and 14 attempts. In November, it was 59% possession and 13 attempts. And back in July – when Villa were battling relegation – it was 69% possession and seven attempts.
Unfortunately for Arsenal fans, none of that domination led to a goal, and in fact, across all three games, the Gunners only managed five shots on target.
Arsenal’s goal total this season also tells its own story. Of the Premier League’s top 10, they are the only side to score less than 30 goals, with 27. Villa, for example, have actually scored nine more than them.
When you consider Arsenal’s attacking talents, with the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Willian, Nicolas Pepe, and Bukayo Saka, it’s simply not good enough.
Can the Gunners regain their cutting edge this season? They did seem to have done a few weeks ago, but right now, it appears like they’re lurching into another crisis.
One thing is for certain. If Arteta wants his side to escape mid-table purgatory this season, they’ll need to start scoring more goals, and soon.
#5 Can Aston Villa qualify for Europe next season?
Aston Villa – who only avoided relegation on the last day of the 2019-20 campaign – are now sitting in eighth place in the Premier League. A top-six spot usually guarantees Europa League football at worst. So can Aston Villa actually achieve this?
It seems crazy, but stranger things have happened. Firstly, with 21 games played, Aston Villa have a game in hand on five of the seven sides above them right now.
Granted, those games in hand are against Tottenham and Everton – who have similar ambitions – but would you really write Aston Villa off against either right now?
Sure, the Villans have lost eight games this season – more than all of the sides around them – but they’ve also won 11.
And more to the point, only Leeds United and West Ham United have been able to clearly outplay Aston Villa in those losses, with bad luck or poor refereeing contributing to their other defeats.
The other thing that Villa have on their side? Plenty of goals. Aston Villa now have 36 to their name and have only failed to find the net on three occasions this season.
Essentially, based on performances like today’s, you’d have to give Aston Villa as much chance as Tottenham, Everton, West Ham, and Chelsea. And for a side that nearly went down last season, that’s huge.
