Aston Villa vs Arsenal: Instant Reaction

Thoughts at full time

Straight into it

Headline: It wasn’t fun, but it was sweet

That was not fun to watch, but I am very happy to have had Arsenal come out on top. Of the last three times that Arsenal have played Aston Villa this is by far the worst overall performance they have put in and it is a funny old game that this is the one where they come out of it with the win.

This game was a slow burner, Arsenal tried to be patient and play through Aston Villa’s press and mid-block, for most of the first half it didn’t produce many clear openings (the best chance was Martinelli finding Havertz and even that was probably a generous rating) but a moment of magic from Bukayo Saka almost opened things up.

They did have a major mistake when Villa pounced in union forcing Gabriel to dwell on the ball (that may or may not have been called back as a foul, you never know these days) giving Ollie Watkins a clear shot at a gapping goal that he put wide.

Overall the first half was closely contested with both teams just nearly failing to score.

The start of the second half was not pretty.

From the start of the second half up to the goal, Arsenal had 0 shots. Arsenal had possession but lacked purpose and threat. They got into Villa’s box just one time. Some of this needs to be a tip of the hat to Aston Villa who held their shape well and didn’t give much room for Arsenal to combine in the central of half space locations.

I was getting very nervous that Arsenal would get desperate and leave the back door open but thankfully Leandro Trossard stepped up with another huge goal to turn the tide of the game and send Arsenal home with all three points.

I am very interested in how this one will look on a re-watch where I don’t have the nerves screwing with my perception.

Player Ratings and Stocks

Stock Rising: Leandro Trossard

Trossard had a major redemption for his miss in the home match from last season, scoring the go-ahead goal with a tidy finish (on not the cleanest of contact). The play overall wasn’t clean and sort of personified Arsenal’s play up to that point in the second half but his moment of quality put Arsenal ahead and was a major vibe shift giving Arsenal near full control of the match from that point forward.

Arsenal had just suffered in the period before and were looking impotent, the goal changed the game. He will have an argument to start at home against his former club Brighton.

Stock Falling: Jurrien Timber