As Mikel Arteta knows only too well, it can only take the finest of margins to settle a Premier League title race. With his side leading 2-0 against Aston Villa thanks to goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz, the Arsenal manager must have felt they were within touching distance of a cathartic victory.
But having seen leaders Liverpool seal a dramatic late victory over Brentford earlier in the afternoon, once again Unai Emery had other plans against his former club. Arteta could only watch on in horror as Youri Tielemans pulled one back before Ollie Watkins volleyed home the equaliser. Even when it seemed Arsenal might have won it late on through Mikel Merino, their joy was short-lived as VAR ruled Havertz had diverted the Spaniard’s effort with his arm to ensure this was another two points dropped in their pursuit of Liverpool.
On an afternoon when Darwin Núñez had shown the importance of having a deep squad with his crucial late interventions for Arne Slot’s side in west London, it was striking to compare the two substitute benches. While the only attacking option the hosts could call on was an out-of-sorts Raheem Sterling, Emery was able to include £22m forward Donyell Malen – who began his career in Arsenal’s academy – alongside Jhon Durán, Emi Buendía and Leon Bailey.
The absence of William Saliba for only the second Premier League game this season after he tweaked his hamstring in the north London derby win over Spurs in midweek further stretched Arsenal’s resources, with Jurriën Timber slotting into central defence as Merino and Martinelli returned. But perhaps given extra motivation by memories of the 2-0 defeat to Villa here back in April that proved terminal to last season’s title challenge, Arsenal made their intentions clear in the first 10 minutes.
A barrage of early corners could not find a way past Emiliano Martínez, with the Villa keeper who was one of the heroes of last year’s victory reacting well to indecision from Tyrone Mings when Martinelli found space at the back post.
But after a run of eight games without a win earlier in the season, Emery has helped his side rediscover the form that enabled them to qualify for the Champions League last year in recent weeks and Villa could have taken the lead if Ian Maatsen had shown greater composure when the ball fell to him after a mistake from Declan Rice.
Martínez spent eight years at Arsenal but only made 15 appearances before joining Villa in 2020. Cheered on by the visiting supporters behind his goal, the Argentina goalkeeper revels in being in the spotlight and produced a full length dive to tip away Leandro Trossard’s deflected shot. Yet having seen their brisk start fizzle out, Arteta could only have been frustrated with his side’s lack of cutting edge until 11 minutes before half-time. It still needed a moment of fortune to break the deadlock after Trossard picked out Martinelli and his volley rebounded back off Martínez and marginally crossed the line.
The goal seemed to give Arsenal extra belief and they had chances to extend their lead when Trossard and Merino both failed to hit the target. In terms of effort, Arteta could not have asked for more of his players.
Emery’s response to a lacklustre first half display from his side was to withdraw Maatsen for Lucas Digne, The Frenchman was immediately in the thick of the action to clear away a dangerous low cross from Myles Lewis-Skelly. Havertz hadn’t scored since the victory over Ipswich here just after Christmas and Arteta admitted this week that the forward had been badly affected by abusive social media messages sent to his pregnant wife. So there was an outpouring of emotion from the home supporters when the German turned home another excellent cross from Trossard to double Arsenal’s lead.
But their delight had turned to despair within five minutes when Tielemans stooped to head home Digne’s perfect ball into the area. Suddenly Villa sniffed a comeback and they would have been level had the Belgium midfielder’s shot not smacked off the post a minute later. Emery was booked for kicking the ball away as temperatures began to rise and he was just about to introduce Durán off the bench when Thomas Partey was caught napping at the back post and Watkins volleyed home expertly from a tight angle.
Arteta seemed stunned by how quickly things had unravelled. It wouldn’t have mattered had VAR not spotted the subtle handball from Havertz to divert Merino’s goalbound shot in the dying minutes of the game that makes Arsenal’s uphill task even steeper.
