Entering the reception of Villa at the Emirates home field, it was believed that Liverpool’s defeat against Crystal Palace would help the home team be more excited to “crush” the guests, but after 90 minutes of rolling, Unai Emery’s team showed themselves Truly an annoying obstacle for the Gunners on their journey to conquer the Premier League throne.

Two goals in just 3 minutes from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins at the end of the match helped Villa leave London with all 3 points, thereby becoming the first team to win against Arsenal in the Premier League this season. Below are 5 notable highlights in the match. 

Havertz is ungainly

Having achieved sublime form before entering the match, it was thought that Kai Havertz would continue to become a dangerous trigger to help Arsenal tear apart Villa’s net, but the German star disappointed all Gunners fans. 

In just the first 45 minutes, the 1999 midfielder had two good opportunities to face goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on the away side, but both times the former Chelsea star handled it ungainly and slowly. That caused the opportunity to unfortunately slip away. 

The old man brought sadness to Arsenal

One of the best players on Villa’s side in this match must definitely be goalkeeper Martinez. During the 90 minutes facing his old team, the Argentine star had 4 successful saves, thereby frustrating Arsenal’s strikers. 

Especially in the 39th minute, Martinez made a brilliant save right in front of the goal line after a close-range cushion by striker Leandro Trossard. 

Twice against the Gunners in the Premier League this season, the 31-year-old played brilliantly, making it impossible for his old club to penetrate the net, thereby contributing greatly to helping Villa win all 6 points. 

Emery is more “skilled” than Arteta

Not only Martinez, last night, Emirates Stadium was demolished thanks to another former Arsenal employee, coach Unai Emery. 

Perhaps his time leading the Gunners in the 2018-2020 period partly helped the Spanish coach understand Arsenal’s football culture, thereby finding ways to neutralize the danger from the home team. 

Last night, Emery once again left Arsenal with a bitter taste in the Premier League this season. The 52-year-old strategist’s impressive ability to read the game was demonstrated when the player came on as a substitute in the second half, Bailey was the author of the opening goal in the 84th minute. 

In contrast to Emery, Arteta made bad decisions to change personnel. The 42-year-old captain trusted Jorginho when the match was in balance, but it was the Italian midfielder who failed to pass the ball, thereby helping Villa quickly counterattack, leading to Watkins’ goal to double the gap in the 87th minute. 

Liverpool “calls”, Arsenal “answers”

In one evening, both strong candidates for the championship, Liverpool and Arsenal, “fell” together, and not only that, both defeats occurred at the two teams’ home fields. 

If Liverpool lets Palace pass with a score of 0-1, Arsenal will have nothing against Villa. 

After round 33, Manchester City was the happiest when the home team at Etihad Stadium, with a crisp 5-1 victory over Luton Town on Saturday night, officially climbed to the top with 73 points after 32 matches, leaving Arsenal behind. like Liverpool 2 points. 

Arsenal is at risk of “losing both lead and fishing” 

Defeat against Villa caused Arsenal to lose the top spot in the Premier League to Man City. With both teams’ schedules for the remaining stages, the chance for Arteta’s team to make a miracle is very small.  

Not only did they lose their right to self-determination in the championship race, the defeat against Villa also became a worse momentum for Arsenal for the rematch with Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals second leg taking place mid-next week. 

Arsenal lost their advantage after the first leg when they held the Gray Tigers 2-2 at the Emirates and although Bayern has performed poorly in the Bundesliga this season, in the Champions League, Thomas Tuchel’s army is still a force, due to The away trip to the Allianz Arena mid-next week is expected to bring many dangers to the Gunners. 

If Arsenal loses to Bayern, an empty season will appear right before the north London club’s eyes. 

Villa “breathes fire” into the top 4 race 

One person’s sadness is another person’s joy. The 3 points won at the Emirates helped Villa officially climb to 4th place after round 33. Emery’s army took advantage of the defeat of direct competitor Tottenham Hotspur. in this round to get a place in the Champions League group next season. 

In addition, this is also a more perfect momentum step for Villa towards the Conference League quarter-final second leg with Lille taking place early on Friday morning. In the first leg, the home team at Villa Park temporarily led the opponent with score 2-1.