Aston Villa v Arsenal – Premier League

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Jonathan Liew was at Villa Park. His report has landed. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM.

Ollie Watkins reflects from Villa’s perspective. “It’s similar to the Leicester game … we had a good start … I dunno what happened … you have to look back and go over it, but in the moment you don’t know what happened … a good team punished us … I don’t know what went wrong … 2-2 with five minutes to go, we should see the game out, I don’t think they should score two goals … Jorginho’s goal was lucky … but they had a lot of the ball and kept putting pressure on us … it’s disappointing at the end of the day … it’s fine margins, another day [Leon Bailey’s shot] goes in and it’s 3-2 and we see the game out, but it wasn’t meant to be and we’ve lost here again.”

A very smiley Mikel Arteta speaks to BT. “We showed a lot of character and resilience … we have to take some lessons … in the first half we didn’t do the simple things right … in the second half we dominated … we needed a magic moment and Jorginho produced it … the boys really wanted it, especially after what happened a couple of days ago … if you want to be at the top you have to win games in different ways … to do it against this team and this stadium, I have to give credit to the boys … the dressing room is bouncing … I am really pleased with them.”

Jorginho speaks to BT: “That’s the Premier League! That’s why it’s the best league in the world. It’s just beautiful … it’s important after the last results we have had … we had a chat at half-time and went back to doing the basics … we changed the game.”

Oleksandr Zinchenko adds: “An unbelievable lesson for all of us … we just need to believe to the very end that we can achieve everything … this group is such amazing people … we can achieve everything we want … the reaction from the second half is perfect and the right way to go in future games … we just need to keep going, to keep fighting.”

Arsenal cavort … and they’ve every right to cavort! What a huge game this could prove in this year’s title race. The Gunners were pushing for a winner, only for Aston Villa to be denied one themselves by two spectacular Aaron Ramsdale saves. Then Jorginho went up the other end, unleashing a wonder shot that came back off the crossbar and pinged in off Emi Martinez’s head. Proper you-couldn’t-script-it stuff, given that (a) Martinez used to play for Arsenal, (b) he’d been brazenly wasting time all through the second half, and (c) he then came up for a corner only for Arsenal to seal the deal on the breakaway. This could have been a morale-draining disaster for Arsenal; instead it’s revitalised their title challenge in the most dramatic way possible! A lot of delighted screaming and shouting going on. Can you blame them? You can’t blame them. Pity poor Villa, who played their part and scored a couple of crackers themselves, but given the context of the title race, today’s narrative is Arsenal’s alone.

FULL TIME: Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal

Arsenal snap their dismal sequence in the most dramatic way possible! They’re back on top of the Premier League, for a couple of hours at least!

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal (Martinelli 90+8)

Digne’s delivery is appalling. Arsenal tear clear on the counter. With the goalie AWOL, Martinelli romps clear down the middle and runs the ball into the empty net, celebrating as he does so. What a dramatic end to a wonderful game of football!

Gabriel Martinelli races away to add a fourth for Arsenal. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Updated at 09.33 EST

90 min +7: Some head tennis in the Arsenal box leads to a corner on the left. Up comes Martinez! He couldn’t, could he?

90 min +6: What price now those two huge one-on-one saves by Ramsdale from Bailey and Duran?!

90 min +5: Nope! The goal stands! Holding and Tierney come on for Odegaard and Zinchenko. “Luck isn’t often given credit for league titles, but if Arsenal win this season’s, that lucky deflection off Martinez will have a lot to do with it,” writes Arsenal fan Kári Tulinius.

90 min +4: There’s going to be a VAR check, though. Was someone offside and in Martinez’s eyeline?

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-3 Arsenal (Martinez og 90+3)

The ball’s cut back for Jorginho on the edge of the D. He takes a dig from distance. A pearler towards the top right! Martinez with no chance. The ball hits the underside of the crossbar, flies back, hits Martinez on the back of his head, and pings into the bottom right! Sensational!

Jorginho strikes to give the Gunners the lead. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Updated at 09.28 EST

90 min +2: Villa counter! Duran bombs down the right. He’s got Bailey in the middle, but shapes a curler towards the top left instead. Ramsdale makes another crucial one-on-one save.

90 min +1: The first of six added minutes sees Arsenal win a corner down the left. Nothing comes of it.

90 min: Mikel Arteta loses his temper with the referee, who had pulled back an Arsenal free kick for a moving ball. He sarcastically replicates the official’s hand gesture and is fairly fortunate not to go into the book. The pressure telling.

88 min: Odegaard dances down the right before checking back and swinging a long ball into the Villa box. Martinez plucks it from the air then goes down in the dramatic clock-management style. The referee helps him up.

87 min: Jorginho fires a pass down the right channel for Saka, who wriggles into space but only manages to slap a tame shot straight at Martinez.

86 min: Nketiah makes a nuisance of himself down the right and earns Arsenal another corner. Saka takes. He hits it long. Too long.

84 min: An Arsenal free kick out on the right. Odegaard swings it into the mixer. Gabriel rises highest, with Martinez flapping, but can only loop his header over the bar. Martinez then takes his sweet time over the restart, and finally goes into the referee’s notebook for his cheek.

82 min: Kamara plays a heavy pass wide right towards Bailey. The ball looks like flying out for a throw, but Bailey takes a gorgeous cushioned touch to control and tear off down the flank. He cuts infield, enters the box, and lashes a shot towards the top right. It’s heading in, but Ramsdale gets a touch to divert the ball onto the bar and away. What sensational football all round!

81 min: A bit of space for Tomiyasu down the right but the sub slams his cross into the first man Konsa. “It’s funny with Eddie Nketiah isn’t it,” begins Paul Curievici. “He was thought of as nothing more than a poacher but now his all-round game has improved so much it’s often his finishing that lets him down. There was an assumption that signing Mudryk would have allowed Arteta to move Martinelli to a central position, and I’m a bit perplexed why he hasn’t tried that with Trossard. Eddie looks like he could do with a break. He’ll score now of course.”

80 min: Bailey briefly threatens to swan past last man Gabriel down the right, but the Arsenal defender sticks out a leg to block and slam the door shut. Both teams want that winner!

79 min: Arsenal’s turn to switch out two players. Off go White and Xhaka, on come Tomiyasu and Vieira.

78 min: Another double change by Villa, who replace Moreno and Watkins with Digne and Duran.

77 min: Huge chance for Arsenal! Konsa miskicks and allows Nketiah to steal the ball and roll a pass in from the left towards Odegaard on the penalty spot. He’s free! He must score, but scuffs his shot wide right. Oh my!

Martin Odegaard rues his missed chance. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Updated at 09.15 EST

75 min: Bailey drifts in from the right, dribbling and probing. No chinks in the Arsenal defence, though. Villa come again, McGinn jinking his way past Xhaka, opening his body, and attempting to steer a shot into the top left. He doesn’t get enough behind it, and it’s plucked from the sky by Ramsdale.

73 min: Saka nearly bursts through the Villa defence down the inside-right channel, but walks the ball out for a goal kick. Disappointment for Saka, but at least he’s looking mobile again after that earlier injury worry. “Granted there were relevant off-pitch matters with Best, but I am not sold on the idea that Saka will be fine if he just gets on with it like a genius who was done at the top before he turned 27,” opines James Hupp, not unreasonably.

72 min: White is causing plenty of trouble down the right in tandem with Saka, and earns Arsenal another corner. They play it short again, just as they did for Zinchenko’s goal, but this time Odegaard’s ball into the box is no good and cleared by Konsa.

71 min: A fair chance this isn’t going to end 2-2.

70 min: Bailey runs at Gabriel down the right and forces a corner. McGinn takes. Gabriel bashes a clearing header upfield and Arsenal counter. Martinelli dribbles down the middle and draws three defenders, but his dink down the left channel, intended for Nketiah, is too heavy and it’s an easy gather for Martinez.

68 min: Arsenal respond by switching out Trossard for Martinelli.