The last few weeks have been tough for Arsenal. As they headed into the weekend without a win in four games in all competitions, the latest being a defeat in the club’s biggest game of the season against title rivals Manchester City. All eyes were on the Gunners at Saturday lunchtime as they prepared for a must win clash away at Aston Villa, and win they did in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Since hiring former Arsenal manager Unai Emery, Villa have established themselves as a strong contender to push for the last remaining European football spot in the Premier League, however two losses in a row would’ve hurt their confidence as they faced Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. But Emery’s Villa got off to the perfect start at Villa Park as Ollie Watkins fired his side ahead after just five minutes with a low drive into the far bottom corner. Although their lead did not last long as Bukayo Saka equalised ten minutes later with a thumping volley into the roof of the Villa net. However, Aston Villa led 2-1 at the break after a nice passing move led to Philipe Coutinho scoring and putting his side back in the lead in the process.
Mike Arteta had to lift his side at half-time, as their winless run looked destined to stretch to five games, but whatever was said in the Arsenal dressing room at the interval clearly worked as ten minutes into the second half Oleksandr Zinchenko fired in a powerful effort into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box to draw his side level at 2-2. The Ukrainian barely celebrated his first Gunners goal as he raced back to his own half to push for a winner. And a winner is what Arsenal should have got as Eddie Nketiah robbed Villa defender Ezri Konsa of the ball and squared the ball for captain Martin Odegaard with a clear chance with fifteen minutes to go, but Odegaard somehow hit his shot wide of the target with the goal gaping.
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal looked like they were going to have to settle for a draw in the midlands. But, as the clock hit the third of six added minutes following the original ninety, the ball fell to Jorginho at the edge of the box, the Italian’s first-time strike smashed the crossbar and luckily hit Emiliano Martinez on its way down and went into the back of the net. Sparking wild scenes from the Arsenal bench to the Gunners fans in the Villa Park away end as it looked like they had secured a vital win in the last minutes. And the result was confirmed three minutes later as Martinez went forward for a Villa corner in the hope of one last twist in an already crazy game, however Arsenal cleared away the danger and after a perfectly timed through ball from Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Martinelli had the simple task of tapping into an empty net to secure a massive three points for Arsenal and sending everyone connected with the club into a frenzy as they celebrated a fantastic comeback which ended their poor run of form as the win represents much more than three points as it’s hoped that it will have a positive effect both physically and mentally
Manchester City could only manage a 1-1 draw away at Nottingham Forest later in the day meaning Arsenal went back top of the league with a two points lead as they have another away trip to the midlands as they face Leicester City.