Arsenal 4 Aston Villa 1 – Where does this leave title race? Unplayable Odegaard? Missed chance for Villa?
Arsenal emphatically proved their title credentials with a convincing victory over Aston Villa at the Emirates.
Goals from Gabriel, Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus in a brilliant second half from Mikel Arteta’s side meant they moved five points clear of second-place Manchester City, who play on Thursday.
Both sides were missing important midfielders going into the game, with Declan Rice out for Arsenal and Boubacar Kamara for Villa, and it was a stop-start first half, but in the second, Arsenal took control. For Villa, who scored through Ollie Watkins late on, it brings to an end an excellent winning run, and they remain third, one point behind City.
James McNicholas, Jacob Tanswell, Kaya Kaynak and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down the action.
Where does this leave the title race?
Arsenal’s win took them five points clear at the top of the table — and six clear of third-place Villa. Their closest challengers, Manchester City, don’t play until Thursday, when they face a tough-looking trip to Sunderland. Regis Le Bris’ team held Arsenal to a 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light in early November.
The result ensures Arsenal will end 2025 at the summit of the Premier League. More importantly, it’s a statement win for Mikel Arteta’s team at a crucial point in the title race. Villa came into the game with great momentum and a win for Unai Emery’s team here would have sewn seeds of doubt about Arsenal’s title credentials.
Injuries continue to threaten to derail Arsenal — and yet, impressively, they continue to cope. Declan Rice was the latest to join the list of absentees. Nevertheless, Arsenal overcame his absence to win. It is what they have done through most of the season.
(Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
For Villa, this game showed they may have a way to go until they can be considered true title contenders. Their attacking quality was evident in the first half, but they didn’t capitalise on the opportunities they created.
After a few weeks in which Arsenal’s games have tended to be a little close for comfort, this was an emphatic win. Arsenal have sent a message to their title rivals: at the halfway stage, they look like a team determined to stay the course.
James McNicholas
What did that assist tell us about Odegaard?
For a while now, it’s felt like Martin Odegaard has been a lightning rod for criticism in this Arsenal side. Even in this game, on the stroke of half-time, some fans could be heard moaning at their captain’s perceived slowness to move the ball forward.
But the Norwegian was central to Arsenal’s resplendence in the second half.
His work in the build-up to Arsenal’s second goal encapsulated everything the Norwegian is elite at.
His off-the-ball work to win the ball from Youri Tielemans was matched only by his composure in waiting for the exact correct moment to slide through Martin Zubimendi for a perfectly weighted assist.
Injuries may have robbed him of his rhythm this season, but Odegaard is starting to ramp back up to his best. When he’s there, he’s one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, despite what his critics might say.
Kaya Kaynak
What was Martinez thinking for Gabriel goal?
Martinez has been guilty this season of being overly preoccupied with opponents from corners, rather than watching the delivery.
This happened for Burnley’s goal in October, with the same transpiring at the Emirates — much to the delight of the home supporters.
He has also shown weaknesses generally in the air, with an example of that coming at Elland Road last month.
Villa’s set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee, would have been aware of Arsenal’s threat from corners and the particular routine of running from the back post and on top of the goalkeeper. However, as the corner was being taken, Martinez was already engaging in a tussling match with Gabriel — of his own making.
The corner was excellent and on top of the Argentina international, who attempted to catch the ball, rather than punch. In truth, Martinez was far too soft and allowed arguably the biggest aerial threat in the league to nudge the ball in for an important opening goal. Interestingly, for the next corner, Villa placed Youri Tielemans between Martinez and Gabriel.
Jacob Tanswell
How important is Gabriel’s return?
There has rightly been a lot of focus on the impact of Gabriel’s absence defensively for Arsenal. They had kept 11 clean sheets in 15 games with him starting before his injury on Brazil duty, and managed just three in the eight matches without him.
Oh, how they could have used him in this reverse fixture. But for all the focus on his defensive attributes, his goal threat from set pieces is a part of his return that has been underrated.
(Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
The Brazilian is willing to stick his head where others won’t, both in his own box, where he took a whack from Youri Tielemans, and in the opposition one, where he won the physical and psychological battle with Martinez.
How many times have we spoken about games where Gabriel has broken a tight game open for Arsenal? This was another, and it’s probably a safe bet to suggest there will be a few more this season.
Kaya Kaynak
Did Villa miss an opportunity?
Owing to the remarkable run of form Villa had been on, the match was more of an opportunity than any pressure being on Emery’s men.
They are nestled in a Champions League place, which was, and is, the aspiration. While Villa were ultimately undone by a second-half shift in momentum after setting up well before the break, this is not a match to rue for too long. Villa were depleted without the suspended duo of Kamara and Matty Cash, with Emery also light of options on the bench — particularly after Amadou Onana’s injury at the interval.
This was one step too far for a Villa team that has been in the best form of any side in Europe: the challenge of another away game in London within 72 hours, tough opposition, and, for the first time in a long time, losing the key passages in games, such as Martinez’s error in the second half. So no, this was not so much a missed opportunity, more so one that had been presented to them because of their good work previously.
Jacob Tanswell
What did the Jesus goal show us?
Villa’s usage of a 6-3-1 setup without the ball with the game at 1-0 and not pressing too high meant Arsenal had limited opportunities to break forward at pace. When they did, their players steered clear of playing a quick pass to force the kind of transition situations Villa could hurt them from.
At 3-0 up, though, all bets were off. Villa were forced to apply pressure on David Raya, who exchanged passes with his centre-backs. Christian Norgaard and Martin Odegaard positioned themselves on the same line, confusing Youri Tielemans.
Odegaard drifted to the left to receive a pass from Piero Hincapie and instantly turned it onto Zubimendi, operating on the left. Zubimendi knocked it past a weak tackle from Andres Garcia before finding Trossard, who fed Jesus. It required a stunning finish from the edge of the box and capped off an Arsenal move that went from Raya to the back of Villa’s net in 22 seconds.
Arteta’s side often break teams down with surgical precision, but if required, they can rip teams apart at pace.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
How did Emery try to frustrate Arsenal?
Emery’s approach was similar to previous years visiting the Emirates. Out of possession, Emery wanted his players to condense space between the lines, in turn forcing Arsenal to attack in wide areas.
On his first league start, Jadon Sancho was defensively diligent early on, with Villa often set up in that aforementioned 6-3-1 shape. This meant Sancho would defend out wide, with Lamare Bogarde, who was moonlighting at right-back, staying central.
Onana would drop into the back line to stay goal-side of Mikel Merino. Largely through Martinez taking his time, Villa were able to regularly break up play and frustrate Arsenal’s attempts of gathering momentum and a fast start.
Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
In possession, Villa had an extra player in build-up, so were comfortable in keeping the ball and waiting for Arsenal to jump onto the back line. When this did transpire, Villa played quickly through the lines to Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers and, especially in the first 25 minutes, routinely cut through a Declan Rice-less midfield.
Emery probably did not quite envisage so many transitional opportunities in the first quarter of an hour, with Villa guilty of not making the most of entries into the final third.
Jacob Tanswell
What did Arteta say?
When asked about Odegaard’s performance, Arteta said: “Well, he needed some consistency as well and some games. He had two shoulder injuries and then a big knee injury. It takes some time, but now you can see he’s flowing. His energy level is back to where it is, he’s taking risks, he’s affecting games in a great way. I think he was really good again today.
On Gabriel, he said: “Big Gabi comes back from injury after six weeks, which probably should have been a bit longer. He comes against the team that is probably hardest to control — especially the front players and the striker that they have in terms of their movement. And he impacts the game in an incredible way, both defending and in the opposition box.”
What did Emery say?
When asked about not shaking Arteta’s hand, Emery said: “It’s simple. You can watch. After we finish the match, my routine is quick, shake hands and now with my coaches, players to the dressing room. I was waiting and of course, be was happy with his coaches. I decided to go inside. For me, no problem.”
On the game and what went wrong, Emery said: “Football. We competed fantastic the first half, and we were getting our momentum, creating chances, corners. We were defending very well when we needed it. We didn’t concede a corner the first half, only one or two chances they had. We were feeling comfortable. And the second half, we conceded the first goal, then we conceded the second goal and maybe as well, Onana’s injury didn’t help us because he’s important for us in set pieces and in the middle.”
What next for Arsenal?
Saturday, January 3: Bournemouth (Away), Premier League, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET
What next for Villa?
Saturday, January 3: Nottingham Forest (Home), Premier League, 12.30pm UK, 7.30am ET
