Midlands | Aston Villa stun league leaders Arsenal

Aston Villa 2 - 1 Arsenal

Emi Buendia struck with virtually the final kick to give Aston Villa a dramatic victory over Arsenal

Author | Peter Grainger 

Stadium | Villa Park

The result hauled Unai Emery’s side to within three points of the Premier League summit.

Leandro Trossard’s sixth goal of the campaign looked to have secured a draw for Arsenal after he cancelled out Matty Cash’s first-half finish. The visitors had grown into the game after the interval and appeared the more likely to find a winner, only for Buendia to intervene deep into stoppage time, guiding a curling effort beyond a stranded defence after Arsenal failed to clear their lines.

It was a ruthless conclusion to a contest that had already swung several times. Villa had earlier seen Eberechi Eze’s neat finish chalked off for offside before Cash pounced at the far post, punishing slack defending to send the home crowd into early celebration. Arsenal, sluggish before the break, responded with renewed energy once Mikel Arteta introduced Viktor Gyokeres and Trossard, the Belgian marking his 50th Premier League goal with the equaliser.

Emi Martinez kept Villa level with a superb touch over the bar to deny Martin Odegaard, a moment that proved pivotal as Buendia, on as a substitute, decided the contest and extended Villa’s winning run in all competitions to seven. It also brought Arsenal’s own impressive league form to a halt, their first defeat since August’s narrow reverse at Liverpool.

Can Aston Villa win the title?

The conversation around Aston Villa’s place in the title race will only grow louder after this. It was a dramatic finale, one of the most striking seen at Villa Park in some time, and it fell in Villa’s favour to reinforce the sense that they may have the endurance to stay in the conversation.

It may still feel optimistic to place them alongside Arsenal or Manchester City, particularly given the relative lack of depth in Emery’s squad and the ongoing constraints of profit and sustainability rules. Yet the table is hard to ignore. Villa sit second, ahead of City’s meeting with Sunderland later on Saturday, and have taken nine wins from their past ten league matches.

A draw might have reflected the balance of an absorbing contest in which neither team showed any interest in settling for parity. But that is not how Emery operates. Having taken the lead, he would not have viewed a point as adequate. Buendia’s late intervention epitomised the drive within this group to push on through one of their sternest tests.

Buendia himself offers a compelling subplot. Expected to move on in the summer after a loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen, he has produced a resurgence that has surprised many within the club. He captures the spirit of this Villa side, an underdog finding new levels and showing an appetite to upset the established order.