Aston Villa have secured a 1-0 win over Arsenal this afternoon, with the Gunners simply out of ideas in the final third.
Our side was behind from the first attack of the game, thanks to terrible attempt at a pass from Cedric Soares. The defender’s failure in the final third allowed the Villains the chance to get the ball into Ollie Watkins, and he fired straight past Mat Ryan.
It wasn’t the ideal start to life for the Australian shot-stopper on his debut, but he put in a solid shift in goal.
Our team tried to pick themselves up front the early setback, but Tyrone Mings and Matty Cash were in top form, and always seemed to be in the right place to sniff out our attack as we pile forwards.
Nicolas Pepe was our most dangerous outlet in attack, but even he was forced to try and challenge Emi Martinez from distance thanks to a solid back line.
Early in the second-half, Ryan pulled off an amazing save to deny Jack Grealish’s effort which was destined for the top corner, while our best chances appeared to be coming from corner kicks.
Alexandre Lacazette was replaced by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 3- minutes left on the clock, but the Gabon international wasn’t able to muster up a single shot on target, which was a clear indicator of his performance.
Thomas Partey limped off the pitch, and he and Emile Smith Rowe were replaced by Willian and Martin Odegaard, but we still struggled to in attack. The Brazilian actually played well for once, making runs down the left to get in behind, but Villa were able to deal with the threat well, and were deserving of their 1-0 win.
What could Arsenal have done better? Does Aubameyang need to stay out wide to be effective?
Patrick