Arsenal boosted their hopes of winning the Premier League title with a dramatic 4-2 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday. The Gunners had gone into the game on a low after a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City in midweek. However, an own goal from Emiliano Martinez after a Jorginho thunderbolt and Gabriel Martinelli strike gave Mikel Arteta’s side all three points.
Arsenal went behind against Villa in the fifth minute, with Ollie Watkins opening the scoring.
Bukayo Saka proceeded to draw the Gunners level 11 minutes later, with the England international clocking up his ninth goal of the campaign in the process.
Villa went ahead again through Philippe Coutinho, who bagged his first goal of the season.
Oleksandr Zinchenko drove home an equaliser in the second half and, at the death, Jorginho’s thunderbolt strike hit Martinez on the head and bobbled in before Martinelli made the result safe.
Express Sport now takes a look at four things we learned from the game.
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta oversaw Aston Villa Premier League clash (Image: GETTY)
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Three players nearly let Arteta down as Arsenal dropped more points in their quest for the biggest trophy on offer.
William Saliba should have done more to prevent Watkins’ opener, with the Villa star easily getting the better of the Arsenal defender.
The same can be said for Ben White, with the England international failing to prevent a cross from Alex Moreno Lopera in the build-up to Coutinho’s goal.
And Eddie Nketiah looked toothless up top, too.
Fortunately for the trio, Martinez’s late own goal was enough to prevent them from copping some flak.