Goals: Aston Villa – Arsenal – Played on 02/18/2023
Arsenal returned with a dramatic victory (4-2) at the expense of its host Aston Villa, today, Saturday, at Villa Park, in the 24th round of the English Premier League.
Arsenal scored Bukayo Saka (16), Oleksandr Zinchenko (61), Emiliano Martinez (90), and Gabriel Martinelli (90 + 8), while Aston Villa scored Oli Watkins (5) and Philippe Coutinho (31).
With that result, Arsenal rose to the top of the standings, raising its tally to 54 points, while Aston Villa’s balance froze at 28 points in 11th place.
Aston Villa posed the first danger in the meeting, with a shot from outside the area through Luiz in the second minute, which went wide of the goal.
Aston Villa opened the scoring early in the sixth minute, with Watkins receiving a through ball, and went until he reached the penalty area, hitting a ground ball that hit the net.
Arsenal wasted an opportunity to adjust the score in the 12th minute, by receiving White Penny inside the area, to separate Martinez, and prefer to send a cross to Nketiah next to him, who hit a header that hit the crossbar, before the referee announced the presence of offside.
Arsenal succeeded in adjusting the score in the 16th minute, after Saka followed a ball away from Aston Villa’s defense inside the area, to hit a powerful ball that hit the net.
Zinchenko appeared in the 19th minute, with a powerful shot from outside the area, which Martinez caught.
And Aston Villa managed to score the second goal in the 31st minute, after Coutinho received a pass inside the area, hitting a distinctive ball that landed in the net, to end the first half with Aston Villa advancing (2-1).
At the start of the second half, Saka hit a curved ball from the edge of the area in the 48th minute, which went wide of the goal.
Saka returned to try again in the 53rd minute, with a ground shot from inside the area, which passed next to the post.
Arsenal almost equalized in the 56th minute, after Nketiah rose to a cross from White, hitting a header that hit the crossbar.
Arsenal translated its control by adjusting the score in the 61st minute, with a ground missile from Zinchenko from the area’s borders that hit the net.
And Arsenal continued to waste the chances achieved after Odegaard sent a distinctive through to Nketiah, who singled out Martinez and hit a dropped ball from inside the area, which went over the crossbar in the 64th minute.
McGinn played with Odegad and Xhaka in the 76th minute, after which he hit a ball from outside the area, which went weak in the hands of Ramsdale.
Arsenal wasted a real opportunity to snatch victory in the 77th minute, after Konsa made a mistake in returning the ball to Martinez so that Nketiah would kill it and pass it to Odegaard, completely free of control inside the area, to hit a ball that strangely passed next to the post.
Aston Villa tried to snatch the three points in the 82nd minute, by penetrating Bailey on the right side of the penalty area, hitting a powerful ball that touched Ramsdale’s fingers and hit the crossbar.
Arsenal’s search for the third goal continued, with Gabriel rising to a cross sent by Odegaard from a violation in the 84th minute, hitting a header that went over the crossbar.
Saka received a penny inside the area from Jorginho in the 86th minute, hitting a weak ground ball, which Martinez caught easily.
And from a quick attack in the second minute of stoppage time, Bailey set off until he reached the area, and hit a curved ball that Ramsdell shone in tackling it.
Arsenal snatched the victory goal in the third minute of stoppage time, with a powerful shot from Jorginho from outside the area, which hit the crossbar and then Martinez before hitting the net.
And in the last minute of stoppage time, Martinez advanced from his own goal in a corner kick to Aston Villa, so Arsenal missed the ball and Martinelli launched in front of the empty goal, to score the fourth goal, to end the match with the victory of the Gunners (4-2).
