Arsenal vs Aston Villa match report
Arteta and his Arsenal squad travelled down to Villa Park in Birmingham to face off against a Aston Villa side who lately has been on fire. In their last match they beat Manchester City 1-0 and have emerged as one of the teams to beat this season. Arsenal walked away also defeated 1-0 after an early goal from McGinn and Villa now climb up to 3rd on the table just behind Arsenal by a point.
The game started off very much Villa’s and they looked ready to go from kick off, pressing Arsenal high into their own half and it only took 6 minutes for Villa to score, after Leon Bailey made a run down the right wing, beating several Arsenal defenders and cutting the ball back into the box where John McGinn was waiting to thump the ball into the back of the net, beating David Raya and putting Villa 1-0 up.
Arsenal were on the back foot but continued to try get an equaliser in the first half. Martinelli creating a lot of chances but it just didn’t feel like Arsenal’s night. In the 35th minute Martinelli nearly equalised when he lobbed Emi Martinez but couldn’t get to the ball before a Villa defender who cleared the ball off the goal line. Only minutes later Havertz brought the ball down the wing and somehow got a pass off to Odegaard who was right in front of goal but he smashed it straight at the keeper.
In the second half Arsenal kept pushing forward and trying to equalise. Coming very close after a corner was whipped in and some miscommunication from Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez nearly saw an own goal but was cleared from the goal line again and somehow into Martinez’s gloves. Arsenal pushed on but it just didn’t feel like our night and felt like we just needed a bit of luck.
In the 61st minute Saka got through on goal, beating the keeper and then placing the ball into the net but was quickly ruled offside. Again, in the 81st minute the ball was in the back of the Villa net when Havertz looked to nudge it in but again was ruled out after a hand ball was detected in the lead up to the goal.
Villa walked away with all three points and left Arsenal chasing for top spot after Liverpool beat Crystal Palace and Arsenal lost the chance to go back top of the league. A game that Arsenal had plenty of chances and just weren’t clinical enough throughout the match. Villa played well and look dangerous contenders this season. A disappointing loss for our Arsenal lads after being in control for most of the game.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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We were supposed to at least draw the game, but we weren’t clinical. Aston Villa’s offside trap was immaculate and we came with a tactic similar to what they played against three days ago
There were a lot of misplaced passes in the first half and Arteta used his usual tactic despite having watched Man City’s loss at Villa Park
Aston Villa eased their high-pressing and let us have the ball after scoring. Arteta watched how Bailey torn Man City apart at Villa Park, yet he didn’t come up with another strategy to nullify him
You are sounding like a broken record, what has how man city played got to do with what happened yesterday, we were complacent with our finishing, Villa didn’t beat us, we handed them the win, outside the 1st 10min, it was all us, they completely dominated city with city having zero chance to score, how on earth someone is comparing the two teams is insane
Arteta has surely watched how Bailey wreaked havoc against Man City. Arteta could’ve come up with a different plan to prevent Bailey from penetrating our left wing and assisting McGinn
Gai, Arsenal didn’t in any way play like MCity we played much better and dominated the game. If we were clinical Aston villa wouldn’t win it’s not about the goal we conceded. Besides, we all know Zichenko wouldn’t handle Bailey well and Tomiyasu injured. We also had a goal disallowed. Villa had a bit of luck.
‘They let us have the ball”? lol, That villa team I saw last night don’t have what it takes to restrict us as they were obviously eager for more but found themselves being restricted hence their offside trap set up. I do hope same tactic will be used when they come visiting, then they’ll be in for some serious annihilation!
Watch how Watkins and his teammates pressed us half-heartedly, unlike Jesus and Odegaard who pressed high up the pitch constantly
Yes they did which only means they are being cautious as they can’t force our mistake with our inverted FB set up and will play into our hands if they attempt such quite unlike your idols City.
Gai, that was what I told you before that good play making don’t win you games but goals do. If Odegard had taken his chances we would probably have won. Whoever has score against Villa would have been Arsenal hero regardless of how bad his performance was in the match. And good defence wins you trophy.
Arteta is very rigid and very one dimensional in his tactical setup. He does not adapt his strategy based on the opposition. I would have preferred him deployed trosard as the false 9 and let Jesus run amok in the harvetz position ( just a waste of space). U can imagine what Carnage martinelli and Jesus will cause on the left and saka on the right with trosard down in the middle. Douglas Luiz and Kamara won’t know which runner to mark leaving space for odegard to dictate . Sadly arteta’s ego and stubbornness won’t allow him deviate from his all too predictable formation
Player ratings would be interesting today. I doubt Saka or Martinelli would get over 4 for me. If they play bad, the results are bad! With Odegaard and Jesus somewhere around 5, it’s no wonder we lost. Ben White could have done more to stop the goal. Overall, we need more depth to the squad with at least a world class striker. Nketia is not going to bring enough goals and usually makes little impact. At least Havertz is showing some heart and passion. That’s about the only good point to take away from yesterday.
When VAR was introduced I was ultra enthusiastic. Never occurred to me that it would be worse than even having ‘corrupt’ Mike Dean as a ref. It is now so incompetent (and probably corrupt) that matches are controlled by insane interpretations of impossible rules. The Villa game…..was it a goal, a handball, or a penalty against Luiz for handball or to rule out for even touching Kai Havertz’s hand/arm by a mm. Did Douglas Luiz in taking down Gabby Jesus’s trailing foot commit a penalty offence. Maybe? But we easily know the answer in games…..the incompetence is so rife there is a 50/50 chance the answer, even with VAR, will be morally and even de-facto wrong. VAR must either be totally redeveloped or this season should be it’s last. Refs should have a visible league table and any hint of incompetence should see them sacked….for good. Refs who go to Saudi or Qatar to officiate must be deemed to be possibly leant on by big money and be psychologically manipulated by the dreams of fortunes in retirement. Research should be done on which teams benefit from VAR decisions, and check the statistical relevance’s. VAR has become malignant and is damaging the game with BILLIONS of $$$$$$ at stake. Remember boxing and Don King. That should answer any questions. Where there is big money….there IS always corruption.
The problem with VAR is that is used in conjunction with an referee. It is not there to overrule in any way, but to assist. The biggest issue I have with it is in it’s system (or lack of). The system still relies human intervention that has been proven to fail multiple times this season already. Miss communication and dithering between official’s has highlighted the issues and yet we still rely on this system in development. For me, it should be scrapped until the technology is ready. More cameras with more FPS (frames per second) and from different angles are needed. But how on earth can you install so many into a stadium? All we have now are more referee’s officiating a single game. But with limited information and equipment. For me, VAR is not conclusive enough. It’s also disruptive. Does VAR help or hinder? You decide.
I don’t know English well but the language of football is international I blame Arteta that while he knew how the opponent plays, he didn’t have the courage at least after the goal he conceded to change something in tactics, a reaction to the setting up of the villa. A lot of time was lost.T same as last year…when we were behind most of the time there was no other plan, something to change in the system and adapt to that of the opponent …. something like an antidote …. a rational move that should be made regardless of what happens until the end. You have to do the right thing and from then on they play a decisive role role and other factors. I mean that in the system I never see a second shot. And if they have turned some matches in our favor it is either from the class of certain players, or from the mistakes of opponents. What the hell with a system will play for life? All the opponents have learned this well, especially the movement of Sakkas. This kid is already destroyed, nothing comes out of him, he constantly loses the ball and is highly predictable. Let him at least change his wing. The referees are not to blame for everything.I recognize that Arteta has contributed the most and I thank him very much for that…he is also a fan for sure, however he always has to and there is room for improvement…He has been read by everyone
Your English looks fine to me
Nice. I’m Greek, I haven’t lived in England at all. But I’m Arsenal to the bone! And England national team. Thank you.
@Vanzel1papado
I understood you very well and agree with every word…👍🏾
Thank you. Have a good rest of Sunday, and have a good week everyone
You do realize Arteta was suspended for the game right? I was afraid we were gonna concede after watching the first two minutes. It was nothing tactical. The team just didn’t look up for the game. There was no conviction and drive about what they were doing. Credit to them for turning things around performance wise. I thought we created some pretty good chances (we created more chances than villa) and just failed to score. On another night, game could have ended 2-1 to the Gunners. So far Saka has more than 10 goal contributions and does not constantly lose the ball in every game as you alluded. So while there is definitely room for improvement, things are not quite as bad as they appear.
We didn’t play badly in my opinion. Villa have won 15 home matches in a row, so they were always going to be difficult to beat
We are just 1 point behind Liverpool which isn’t the end of the world
Let’s focus on winning the next match
Yet Stephanie in our predictions games barely anyone said Villa would win lol
After we lose same fans are saying ….oh it’s hard to win at Villa Park
So what’s your point Dan?
The predictions showed optimism and the after match opinions showed realism.
Isn’t that what every football fan should be doing?
Arsenal has issues scoring goals.We are using the same backline as last season and Our diffensive record is fantastic.
Our challenge starts from the midfield set up.Non of our players is capable of carrying the ball,controlling the tempo,executing the final pass and shooting on target consistently.
This coupled with our lack of clinical finisher at C.F makes it so difficult to see off matches.
In the meantime I hope we stop using Kai in midfield and use him more as a C.F
I would rather we try a Jorginho, Rice,Odegaard mid with front line of Jesus,Kai,and Saka.We could get better returns from Kais aerial abilities inthe final third as opposed to what he offers the team in midfield.
My thinking is that it’s easier to mould Havertz into a Giroud than into a Xhaka.
You can never remove Martineli in this team and replace him with Jesus who isn’t interested in scoring,Havertz was yesterday by a better player in midfield than both Odegaard and Rice,Odegaard robbed him two good assist he should have scored Havertz was the most likely player to score yesternight one of them was robbed by VAR.
True Naftali,but Martinelli can’t play all matches. I also have seen Jesus play on the wing and he isn’t that bad in my view. Not to mention that he will fair much better in physical contests which are now synonymous with the EPl than Martinelli.
On Havertz,just like I don’t fancy Zinchenko in defence, I just feel Kai will do much better as C.F than A.M
Becauce Mikel Arteta can’t control his impulses Arsenal have got FA and the Ref’s as opponents, and that will cost them the title 23/24. I fought the law and the law won (Sonny Curtis, 1960?). Every time, the law wins! In the grown up world, so even in the kindergarten of football. Mikel Arteta must learn that (and shut up!), if Gunners ever shall win anything of value (EPL or UCL).
Jack I am intrigued by your “I fought the law and the law won” and then ” Sonny Curtis1960″, which seems to indicate you are now an older fan, as am I too. Care to give us more info please?
The law is the reason we spent over 60 million on Havertz and have to bring on the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson ?
Villa did us. We let a goal in and couldn’t score. SIMPLES!
@Reggie
🎯
What really should sting the most is, the guy who kept us from scoring, was one of our very own. We let him go for peanuts simply because he wanted the top spot. Meanwhile, Leno is picking the ball out of the Fulham net. And we’re stuck with Ospinas nervous cousin…Ya gotta love it.
Yes NY, a big mistake and we still haven’t put it right.
As a team we are not ready to take the next step to be Champions.
We rely too much on a couple players to carry the team, and when they falter no one steps up to carry the team.
Arteta is too rigid, and so far refuses to make the necessary changes. Zinchenko is not a LB, and their only goal came from his side. How many times have we seen that unfold?
We need a striker that scores, period. Jesus pressed, ran around, dropped deep, interchanged, but what we needed was a goal.
Sorry but time to upgrade if we want to be Champs. Jesus can’t be backup striker and rotate with Saka to keep them both fresh and fit.
Arteta changed our play from last year, direct and free flowing because teams sussed us out.
Yet persists with Zinchenko inverted, and we still concede directly related to this tactic.
Equally important as new players is a new assistant coach. Arteta needs an experienced hand to point out the shortcomings and tell him when things are wrong and need changing.
@Durand
🎯👏🏾