After beating Man City 2-1, Aston Villa also beat Arsenal 1-0 to extend their winning streak at home in the Premier League to 15 in a row
Villa coach Unai Emery made no changes to his starting XI from the 2-1 win over Manchester City. For the Gunners, Mikel Arteta, who was suspended and could only watch the game from the stands, made one change compared to the wild 4-3 win at Luton Town: Zinchenko replaced Kiwior (bench) on the left side of defense
Bailey light on his feet, McGinn cold-cocked
Villa got off to a storming start and pinned the Londoners, who went into the 15th matchday of the Premier League as league leaders, largely in their own half in the early stages. After a wonderful attack down the right, ex-Leverkusen man Bailey fed McGinn in the center, who scored from a turn to give the Birmingham side an early 1-0 lead (7′).
It took a while for the Gunners to get into the game. However, Ödegaard, Havertz & Co. began to find their feet midway through the first half and created a number of chances. However, Ödegaard and Gabriel Jesus failed to beat Emiliano Martinez twice (33, 39, 42) and Diego Carlos cleared off the line after Gabriel Martinelli’s lob over the keeper (36). Villa held on to their narrow lead at the break.
Havertz’s hand prevents the equalizer
The home side continued after half-time with Diaby instead of Bailey. Arsenal dominated the game again, but their shortcomings remained their lack of chances. First, Villa were lucky that the ball bounced off Martinez’s hands and Watkins’ body only to hit the post of their own goal (57′), then Ödegaard missed the target after a Havertz pass (58′).
After a storming first quarter of an hour, the Londoners’ pressure eased a little and Villa now had chances to counter: Digne was denied by Raya (61) and the Arsenal keeper also kept out Watkins (68). Diaby had set up both goals. Arsenal then struggled for a long time against a passionate home side, before Havertz scored from close range in the 90th minute to make it 1-1. However, the goal was disallowed due to a handball by the German immediately before the goal.
Aston Villa first face Zrinjski Mostar in the Europa Conference League on Thursday (6.45pm) before a Premier League clash at Brentford FC on Sunday (3pm). Arsenal play PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday (6.45pm) before continuing their league campaign at home to Brighton on Sunday (3pm).
