Arsenal 4-1 Aston Villa: Revenge is sweet, but a statement is better

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Arsenal ended Aston Villa’s winning run, and extended the lead at the top of the table after a thumping 4-1 win over Unai Emery’s yesterday evening.

Without Declan Rice, who picked up a knee injury in the game against Brighton, Mikel Arteta was able to recall Jurrien Timber at right back, and very early on there was a good chance for Viktor Gyokeres but he headed over when he should, at the very least, have hit the target.

That didn’t really set the tone for the early part of the game, because Villa found a way through us on a number of occasions. Amadou Onana burst into space and into our box but tried to buy a penalty rather than make the most of that situation, Morgan Rogers also threatened, and real carelessness in midfield from Gyokeres saw them fashion a chance that you would expect Ollie Watkins to take, but he squirted his shot wide. It was like 80th minute football in the 15th minute, and quite weird to see.

It did settle down though, and there was another chance for Gyokeres, this time really sharp movement saw him get to a Leandro Trossard cross first, but he couldn’t finesse the header in at the near post. Late in the half a brilliant intervention by William Saliba denied Watkins a far-post tap in, but it seemed to be made moot by the offside flag. I suspect it might have been a very nervy VAR check had he stuck it in the back of the net though.

Villa were forced into a half-time change when Onana was replaced by John McGinn, and a good combination between Bukayo Saka, Gyokeres and Timber drew a corner in the first couple of minutes. Saka delivered, Emi Martinez was more worried about Gabriel than the ball … which made him miss the ball which then ran in off the Brazilian from close range to make it 1-0. Obviously Villa claimed a foul on the keeper, it wasn’t. It was just soft. Sometimes all you can is do is point and laugh like the ‘Haha!’ lad in the Simpsons. Perhaps a touch fortunate, but still very, very funny, and very, very important.

Four minutes later and the lead was doubled. Martin Odegaard stole the ball well in midfield, drove forward, and played a perfectly weighted pass for the run of Martin Zubimendi. His little dink into the right hand corner of the net was really nicely done for 2-0, and it was just what the doctor ordered. A little daylight on the scoreboard, and a really efficient goal too – a perfect illustration of how to capitalise on a turnover in the opposition half.

There was another moment of good fortune when Mikel Merino, already on a yellow card, made to me what looked like the kind of foul that could easily have drawn a second one, but the ref, thankfully, kept his cards in his pocket. Timber then poked the ball just over the bar from close range after a Trossard corner fell to him, and Odegaard had Martinez stretching with a shot from just outside the box.

The third came after a period of pressure around their box, with Trossard buzzing around from left to right. Odegaard delivered a cross, the Villa defender took a heavy touch under pressure from Saka, Timber tried to step inside with it, and in doing so set it up for Trossard whose first time shot whistled in with the keeper leaden footed and unable to do anything about it. VAR tried to find an offside in the build-up somewhere, but couldn’t, and it was 3-0.

This is the kind of scoreline we’ve been missing of late, and I can’t lie, even aside from the importance of this game against this opposition, it felt really nice to have that cushion. Having brought on Christian Norgaard for Merino, Arteta threw on Gabriel Jesus and Myles Lewis-Skelly for Gabriel, and inside a minute of his introduction, the Brazilian scored his first goal in almost a year.

We all know why it’s been that long, he’s been through the mill with injury, so this was a really special moment for him. Not to mention a really well worked goal too. Villa pressed high up the pitch when we had it at the back, we played through their press, sending Trossard down the left. He squared it for Jesus and from just outside the box, he sent a curling shot beyond the flailing Martinez to make it 4-0. What a moment for him. After all that time out with injury, he has looked like a man desperate to make up for lost time, and you could see how much that goal meant to him and his teammates.

We had 8 minutes of injury time in which Villa missed a chance from a yard out, Raya making a good save but it was poor from McGinn, before they eventually got a consolation through Watkins. A very slight blot on the copybook, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. Last night was about the points, and we made absolutely sure of those with that excellent second half performance.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

I’m so happy. We play every three days, we played an opponent today that comes from 11 wins in a row, a superb team, very difficult to play against. In the second half, we clicked. Everything went much better, timings were better and the individual duels were fulfilled in an extraordinary way, so efficient in everything that we did. Unlike the last few games where we had so many big situations, today we were very prolific and accurate to make the difference.

As I said yesterday, I’d have taken the points any way they came, but that we also had an opportunity to make a bit of a statement, and I think we did exactly that. This Villa team were flying coming into this one, and while we had to survive a few hairy moments in that first half, that’s football. The focus for me should be on what we did in the second 45, and once we got on top with the first goal, we really stepped on them to remind them, and everyone else, of our title credentials.

A win like this, a scoreline like this, provides a kind of reassurance, and I do think it was something we all needed. Since losing that game to Villa in early December, we’ve played 6 games and won them all, albeit one via a penalty shoot-out. The response to that cruel defeat has been nigh on perfect in terms of results, but I think this was a performance that felt a bit overdue. It’s put the brakes on Villa, and puts some pressure on Man City who play on Thursday. You couldn’t really have asked for more.

—

Just a quick word on the Unai Emery handshake thing. I think, especially in English football, this kind of thing can be completely over-indexed, and ultimately it’s not that important. What I would say though is that if Mikel Arteta can respect that protocol after his team lose in the last second at Villa Park, Emery comes across really poorly when he refuses it in this context.

He said he waited for Arteta who was too busy with his coaches, and that it was too cold for him, but the TV pictures saw him storm down the tunnel straight away. If you don’t feel like it, no big deal, but at least own it, rather than blame the weather or the opposition manager.

I also enjoyed the Arsenal fans having some fun with Emi Martinez as he made his way down the tunnel too. It’s the time of year for pantomime villains, and he’s certainly one of them. Oh no he isn’t. Oh yes he is! The butter-fingered lump.

—

Right, I’m gonna leave it there for now, but we will relive this very enjoyable night in audio format a bit later on with an Arsecast, so stand-by for that. It should be out around lunchtime on all the usual platforms.

For now, it just remains for me to wish all of you, wherever you are in the world, health, love, and happiness for 2026. Look after each other, look after yourselves, and here’s to a very successful new year for everyone.

The post Arsenal 4-1 Aston Villa: Revenge is sweet, but a statement is better appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.