In a dominant display, Arsenal secured their fifth win on the bounce with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa, played out to a thunderous atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal had gone into the game as Premier League leaders after beginning the season in fine form, and boasted a one-hundred percent record.
For Villa, defeat to Mikel Arteta’s side is already their fourth defeat of the season, piling more pressure on manager Steven Gerrard. After being booed off at the weekend in the defeat to West Ham and losing again this evening, Gerrard has a lot of work to do to turn things around.
Arsenal made their superiority count when on the half hour mark, Gabriel Jesus was quickest to react to tap in after Villa 'keeper Emiliano Martinez spilled the ball from a cross.
Against the run of play Villa equalised when substitute Douglas Luiz scored direct from a corner, despite the protestations of Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale who felt he had been impeded.
Arsenal would retake the lead only a few minutes later when the excellent Martinelli scored at the back post from a Bukayo Saka cross.
The victory keeps Arsenal top of the table, two points ahead of Manchester City.
Story Of The Match
The match started frantically, in the opening exchanges the play moved from end to end without either side managing to take control.
The first opportunity of the match fell to Aston Villa's Emiliano Buendia after a mix up in the Arsenal back line, was presented with an opportunity from the edge of the area, but he could only manage to scoop the ball harmlessly over the bar.
Arsenal began to grow into the game with captain Martin Odegaard getting on the ball and dictating the play.
The home side felt they had a legitimate penalty claim, when winger Bukayo Saka, in one phase of play had his shirt pulled by Boubacar Kamara followed by Tyrone Mings appearing to wrestle Saka to the ground. Referee Robert Jones and VAR felt there wasn’t enough in it, Aston Villa could count themselves lucky.
With ten minutes on the clock, Odegaard played a great ball from the right to fashion an opportunity for Gabriel Jesus who hit a stinging shot at Villa goalkeeper Martinez’s near post but the Argentine number one made a smart save at his near post.
From the resulting corner, after some desperate Villa defending, Arsenal defender Gabriel’s shot was deflected wide.
Gerrard’s side were fired up in the early exchanges, flying into challenges and playing with a lot of aggression. This approach led to Jacob Ramsey receiving a yellow card on twelve minutes after a strong tackle on Gabriel Martinelli.
The influential Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus link up play grew stronger as the first half progressed keeping the Villa back line on their toes.
The two worked well to create an opportunity when Jesus won possession before breaking, Jesus was played in by the Arsenal captain, outmuscled Mings rather easily before forcing the Villa keeper into another save low down.
From the rebound, Odegaard had two bites at the cherry, but both shots were blocked before the ball was cleared.
Arsenal with every attack looked threatening, dominating possession using their pace, with only the Aston Villa keeper and heroic defending from the backline preventing them from opening the scoring.
The dangerous Brazilian Martinelli fashioned an opportunity, he broke down the left, crossing the ball to the back post for the unmarked Bukayo Saka to surely score, only for the England player to blaze high and wide.
The inevitable goal did finally come when former Arsenal goalkeeper Martinez spilled Granit Xhaka’s deflected cross from the left, Jesus was onto the rebound quick as a flash to open the scoring.
With Gerrard opting to play a narrow 4-3-3, Arsenal were exploiting the space on the wings to terrorise the Villa full backs Matty Cash and Lucas Digne. The Gunners upped the intensity of their press forcing the Villa backline into mistakes and giving the ball away cheaply.
Ineffectual going forward for the majority of the half, Aston Villa had a rare opportunity when Matty Cash’s cross found Buendia in the box, but he could only hit a tame shot into the hands of Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal continued to push for a second goal when Jesus’ partnership with Odegaard produced another opportunity only for Cash to clear the shot off the line.
Martinelli was unlucky not to score a spectacular goal just before the half-time whistle. Granit Xhaka knocked the ball down into his path, where he produced an exquisite volley, only for Martinez to produce a brilliant save.
The second half started much like the first with both teams lacking control and Arsenal’s play in particular lacking the quality they displayed in the opening forty-five.
On fifty-four mins Martinez produced another smart stop from an Oedegaard free kick from the left. From the resulting corner the Villa keeper fielded the ball easily before getting caught in a needless moment where he grabbed Jesus around the neck before falling to the ground. The keeper was lucky to go uncarded.
Aston Villa, despite being outplayed and providing little attacking impetus, worked hard and dug deep to stay in the game, which had been helped by Arsenal’s impotency in front of goal.
Arsenal, although still by far the better team and in complete control by the later stages of the second half, lacked the same attacking threat, quality and fluidity as in the first half. Oedegaard's impact waned which seemed to affect the rhythm of their forward play.
Villa’s first opportunity of the second half came when Leon Bailey drove into the box and struck the ball towards goal, Aaron Ramsdale dealt with the shot comfortably, tipping the shot over the bar.
From one of the resulting corners Villa would stun the Emirates, equalizing from a Douglas Luiz corner, which curled straight into the goal. Arsenal keeper Ramsdale felt he had been impeded by Boubacar Kamara, but the goal stood following the VAR check.
Villa did not hold parity for long, after initiating the build up, Gabriel Martinelli was on hand to score at the back post from Saka’s cross from the right, to restore Arsenal’s lead.
The last ten mins of the match saw both Arsenal and Villa stretching the play, the play going from end to end without much creativity or significant chances being fashioned.
Despite his mistake, Martinez was excellent in goal for Villa
Emiliano Martinez came under immense pressure from the Arsenal attack throughout the game but showed his class with many significant saves, preventing the North London side from running away with the game.
The save from Martinelli as the first half edged to a close was unquestionably world class and ensured Villa went into the break luckily only one goal down.
Though at fault for Jesus’ goal, Martinez can be pleased with his evenings work on his return to his former stomping ground.
Arsenal deservedly saw out the match 2-1 to continue their perfect start to the Premier league campaign.
Player Of The Match
Match-winner Martinelli has started the season superbly and his excellent form continued this evening.
He was a constant threat down Arsenal’s left hand side, being involved with much of the Gunners build up play as well as giving the Villa defense a torrid time with his dribbling skills.
His goal was just reward to cap off a fine display from the young Brazilian who gets better with each game.
