Arsenal faced off against Aston Villa at Villa Park earlier tonight as they hoped to earn a good result on the road in the Premier League. The Gunners made a poor start to the game and conceded the opening goal in the fifth minute when Ollie Watkins found the back of the net. However, the North London club equalised via Bukayo Saka’s impressive strike. Philippe Coutinho restored the home team’s lead in the 31st minute with a clinical finish as Arsenal went into the half-time break 2-1 down on the scoreline.
Mikel Arteta’s men made a positive start to the second half and netted the equaliser just after the hour mark via Oleksandr Zinchenko’s strike from long-range. Emiliano Martinez scored an unfortunate own goal against his old club in injury time before Gabriel Martinelli made the points secure for the Gunners when he found the back of the net in the dying embers of the game. The contest finished with Arsenal securing an impressive 4-2 win at Villa Park.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player fared during the match against the Villans.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 6.5/10
The English keeper made a few decent saves at the back but won’t be happy after conceding two goals in the first half.
RB: Ben White – 6/10
He looked shaky at the back but made one good chance in the final third.
CB: William Saliba – 6.5/10
Saliba made a few crucial clearances at the back and won a couple of aerial duels as well.
CB: Gabriel – 6/10
He made a slow start to the game but recovered well and put in a solid performance in the second half.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7.5/10
Zinchenko was calm when defending inside his half and scored a fine goal from outside the box in the second half.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 8/10
Odegaard made plenty of decent chances for his teammates but scored a sitter in the second half. He ended the game with an assist to his name.
CM: Jorginho – 7.5/10
He got stuck in with some solid tackles and made some decent opportunities for his teammates to score.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 6/10
Xhaka struggled to get into the flow of the game and was replaced in the 78th minute.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 8/10
The England international was a constant menace in the final third and scored a good goal to equalise for Arsenal in the 16th minute.
ST: Eddie Nketiah – 7.5/10
Nketiah had a few lively moments in the game but lacked the cutting edge in front of the opponent’s goal.
LW: Leandro Trossard – 6.5/10
He had a couple of impressive moments in the game but could last only 67 minutes.
Substitutes:
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 7/10
He scored a good breakaway goal in injury time.
RB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – 6/10
Tomiyasu offered very little after coming off the bench.
CM: Fabio Vieira – 7/10
He picked up an assist late in the game.
CB: Rob Holding – N/A
Holding hardly had any time to make an impact.
LB: Kieran Tierney – N/A
He came on for the final few minutes of the game.
