I told them that they’re too small for this great pressure that is coming but they thought it was a mere joke’: Aston villa boss Unai Emery fired strong premier league warning to Arsenal fans – tells Arteta to sit up for the task ahead
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Martinelli, Saka, Jesus
Subs: Ramsdale, Cedric, Kiwier, Walters, Elneny, Jorginho, Nelson, Trossard, Nketiah
John McGinn’s early strike was enough to condemn Arsenal to a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
The Gunners had enough chances to claim something from the match, not to mention goals rued out for offside and handball, but a lack of cutting edge proved costly.
The result, coupled with Liverpool’s late win at Crystal Palace, means Mikel Arteta’s side end the day in second place with tonight’s opponents breathing down our neck.
PRE-GAME
Mikel Arteta made one change from the side that started the win over Luton opting to field Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back at the expense of Jakub Kiwior. Despite his poor performance in midweek, David Raya retained his place in goal. In midfield, captain Martin Odegaard was making his 100th Premier League appearance.
FIRST HALF
Villa started quickly and wanted to test David Raya’s mettle following his slip-ups at Luton. The home side made a point of lofting balls into the box – the keeper dropped one under pressure – but didn’t look unduly ruffled.
Villa started the better of the two sides and clearly wanted to test David Raya with long balls although it was the Gunners who had the first chance. Saka switched play to Martinelli who looked to return the ball to the England international at the back post but he couldn’t quite get to it quickly enough and his shot was rushed and out of play.
Annoyingly, Villa made us pay immediately. They worked the ball through midfield, then out right to Bailey who had our defence backpedalling with a dart into the box. The Jamaica international showed decent composure to cut back to McGinn who spun quickly and fired past Raya. Ben White, who didn’t get close enough, beat the turf in frustration. (GOAL 1-0)
Conceding early against the backdrop of fierce home support was hardly ideal but our response was composed. Wary of letting the game get away from us, we proactively looked to slow the game down.
Zinchenko saw lots of the ball as we worked angles in the centre of the park but it was frustrating that several attempts to find Saka ended with the ball rolling out of play. When Havertz did feed him after stealing the ball in midfield, the winger’s shot was closed down immediately.
It quickly became clear that if we pressed high, there were going to be opportunities to steal the ball, which we did repeatedly for the rest of the half. Indeed, by the half hour mark when we mustered our first shot on target – a curler by Saka – we were completely on top. Odegaard had an effort blocked at close quarters, then tried to beat Martinez at his near post only for his daisycutter to fizz just wide.
The chances kept coming. Gabriel Magalhaes freed Martinelli and with Martinez racing out of goal, he managed to get the ball over his former teammate. Unfortunately, Costa read the danger and nicked the ball off the line.
Havertz then burst into the box, and found Jesus who laid back to Odegaard. The midfielder took a touch inside, swung his left foot and thought he’d scored only for Martinez to get across. Our former keeper also denied Jesus who cut in off the left.
It was one-way traffic through until the end of the half except for one save by Raya from Watkins who was flagged for offside anyway.
SECOND HALF
Arsenal came racing out of the traps and when Jesus went down in the box under pressure from David Luiz he was sure he deserved a penalty. VAR reviewed the incident but decided against sending Jarred Gillett to the pitchside monitor.
Emery could see that his side were under pressure. Having already brought on Moussa Diaby at half time, he took off Tielemans and added the energy of Jacob Ramsey to his midfield.
We kept turning the screw. A Saka corner almost squirmed in at the near post as Martinez flapped. Not long after, Odegaard screwed wide as Havertz found him at the penalty spot. If we’d had any cutting edge, we’d have been out of sight.
Raya made an important save from Digne to keep us in the game on the hour before Saka put the ball in the net only to have his effort ruled out for offside. As always, our winger also had to deal with the usual ankle kicks and his annoyance was palpable.
Villa benefitted from the game growing more ragged and Raya was forced into a decent stop by Watkins. Emery made two further subs before Albert Stuivenberg sent on Leandro Trossard for Martinelli. The Belgian’s first involvement was to accidentally block a Rice free-kick which he’d fired under the Villa wall.
A late onslaught didn’t look likely from Arsenal. Heading into the final 15 minutes, we were struggling to keep possession and tiring. Nketiah was sent on to add a bit of zip but the fact his arrival came at the expense of Jesus was surprising. Any momentum we tried to build was stalled by the home side’s physicality. Trossard went down after being caught by Cash and Konsa left an elbow on Nketiah.
In the final minute, Nketiah thought he’d grabbed a vital equaliser by pouncing on a loose ball at the back post after a cross caused havoc at Villa’s back post. Referee Gillett immediately blew for handball and after an absolute age, VAR verified the call, seemingly for a handball by Kai Havertz.
Arsenal continued to press during five minutes of stoppage time but unlike at Luton, we couldn’t find a goal. The sight of Nketiah heading over was enough for Arteta to scarper from the directors’ box before the whistle went. He’d seen enough, it wasn’t Arsenal’s night.
