Aston Villa v Arsenal: Key moments as Gunners seal late win in thriller
Catch up on all the action with Flashscore
Live commentary
90+10' The referee blows his whistle for the final time to end this match.
90+8' 2 - 4 Goal!
Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal) beats the goalkeeper with his effort.
90+6' Mikel Arteta prepares a substitution. Martin Odegaard is replaced by Rob Holding (Arsenal).
90+6' The referee stops play so that a substitution can be made and Oleksandr Zinchenko departs the field of play to be replaced by Kieran Tierney (Arsenal).
90+3' 2 - 3 Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) scores an own goal!
No one would like to be in his position right now.
90+2' Nice individual effort by Jhon Duran (Aston Villa). He gets all the way through to the keeper and hits a shot to the left side of the goal, but Aaron Ramsdale does a good job to anticipate the direction of the ball and keeps it out.
84' Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) violates the laws of the game and is shown a deserved yellow card by the referee.
83' Leon Bailey (Aston Villa) dribbles deep into the box and releases a strike towards the top right corner, but Aaron Ramsdale makes a sensational reflex save and punches the ball onto the post. Superb goalkeeping!
79' It's time for a substitution. That's the last involvement from Ben White as he is replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal).
79' The referee stops play so that a substitution can be made and Fabio Vieira (Arsenal) replaces Granit Xhaka.
78' Unai Emery has decided to make a change. Lucas Digne (Aston Villa) replaces Alex Moreno.
78' Substitution. Jhon Duran (Aston Villa) in, Ollie Watkins out.
78' Good chance! Martin Odegaard (Arsenal) nicely turned his man inside the box but placed his effort just wide of the right post. He should have scored! The ball is off of the pitch and it's a goal kick for Aston Villa.
68' It is time for a substitution. Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal) is on for Leandro Trossard.
67' Unai Emery decides to make a substitution. Douglas Luiz will be replaced by Leander Dendoncker (Aston Villa).
67' A substitution has been made. Emiliano Buendia goes off and Leon Bailey (Aston Villa) comes on.
64'Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal) is afforded space inside the box after collecting a pass, but the chance is wasted as his shot goes harmlessly over the crossbar. The ball is off of the pitch and it's a goal kick for Aston Villa.
62' Philippe Coutinho will be replaced by Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa).
61' 2 - 2 Goal!
Great play by Martin Odegaard releases Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal) in space on the edge of the box. He spots the keeper off his line and coolly puts the ball into the bottom right corner. 2:2.
56' Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal) had a good opportunity when he latched on to a cross from the wing, but his header from the six-yard box wasn't accurate enough and the ball glanced away off the bar!46' The second half gets underway.
45+4' The referee blows his whistle to end the first half and the players are now heading to their respective dressing rooms.
45+3' This is a yellow card! Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) is not happy with the decision, but from our point of view it was clear.
45+3' Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) makes it easy for the referee to show him a yellow card.
31' 2 - 1 Fantastic team goal!
Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa) was set free in the area by Alex Moreno and he made no mistake with a lovely finish into the bottom left corner. 2:1.
16' 1 - 1
After a goalmouth scramble the ball rebounds out to Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) who buries it from close range into the roof of the net.
5' 1 - 0 Goal!
Matty Cash tees up Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) inside the box and he rolls the ball past Aaron Ramsdale.
1' The first half has started.
Match preview
Aston Villa will feel the progress made in starting the year with four Premier League (PL) matches unbeaten (W3, D1) has been somewhat undone recently, after suffering back-to-back losses to Leicester City (4-2) and league-leaders Manchester City (3-1).
While those high-scoring affairs may have been exciting to watch, continuing a trend of keeping just two clean sheets from their last 12 matches will make it difficult for 11th-placed Villa to break into the top half of the table.
Villa Park has been on the receiving end of these poor defensive performances, with the Villans winning only once at home since the World Cup break (D1, L3). Therefore, manager Unai Emery will be hoping to use his insight of former employers Arsenal as they come to town, something that is much needed considering Villa have lost each of the last three head-to-heads.
This will be Arsenal’s first meeting with a former manager since beating a George Graham-led Tottenham side 2-0 in March 2001, but that will be the furthest thing from current manager Mike Arteta’s mind.
His side have learnt that the margin for error at the top of the table is razor thin, with their 3-1 loss to fellow title-challengers Manchester City in midweek slicing their once eight-point lead, and capping off a four-game winless run (D1, L3).
Now sitting in second place by virtue of goal difference, the Gunners do have the ammunition of a game-in-hand, though that may prove futile if their already horrendous week goes from bad to worse with another loss here. At least they can find solace in winning four of their last six visits to Villa Park (L2), helping to make it their second-most winning away Premier League ground with 13 victories after their 14 wins at West Ham.
Players to watch: Villa’s Leon Bailey has scored 15 of his last 17 club goals at home, while Arsenal will be hoping for some Gabriel Martinelli magic here, having won each of the last 14 matches the Brazilian has found the net.
Hot stat: Aston Villa have seen a league-high 17 goals scored in the opening 15 minutes of their league matches this season.
