Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa
by Layth Yousif
at Ashburton Grove

Mikel Arteta’s relentless Gunners made it five wins from five games to top the Premier League, after they eased past Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday evening.

A first half goal by Gabriel Jesus put the home side ahead, before Steven Gerrard’s visitors levelled through Douglas Luiz, who scored direct from a corner on 74 minutes against the run of play.

In a dramatic 151 seconds after conceding, Arsenal showed character to regain the lead, when Gabi Martinelli slotted home Bukayo Saka’s cross to put Arteta’s team ahead once again, in front of a raucous crowd in north London.

Speaking after the match Arteta said: “We are really happy because we are winning football matches that we deserve to win.

“The way we are performing and playing, and we need to continue. There are a lot of things that we have to improve and you could see that in the second half, but the way we played in the first half, the amount of chances, how much we generated, how dominant we were, and the energy that we generated is really pleasing as a coach.”

Buoyant Arsenal now gear up for Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United, albeit with injury concerns to key midfielders Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny. 

However, the midweek result is sure to ramp up further pressure on beleaguered Villa boss Gerrard, who has now seen his side lose four of their first five fixtures – with his team set to host free-scoring Manchester City on Saturday.

Asked if he had any concerns about his future as Villa head coach, Gerrard said: “Of course I do. I am really honest and critical of myself. If I stood here and said I wasn’t concerned I think you’d look at me as though I was from a different planet.”