Aston Villa fell to a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday, as our lack of a clinical edge up front cost us as we were ultimately punished by the visitors.
Second-half goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey sealed the three points for the Gunners, as it was a frustrating loss and a missed opportunity from a Villa perspective given our chances when the game was still goalless.
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In turn, while there were still many positives to take from the encounter, it’s an important lesson for Villa, particularly when on top in these big games, that we must be consistently ruthless in front of goal, take our chances and ultimately come away with a positive result.
We’ll have a chance to bounce back against Leicester City next weekend, with Unai Emery undoubtedly taking plenty away from this encounter to ensure we improve moving forward.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Arsenal:
Emiliano Martinez, 6 – Made a brilliant save in the first half to deny Saka, and was composed throughout as he started our play out from the back. However, he’ll be frustrated that he didn’t do better to keep Arsenal’s second out.
Matty Cash, N/A – Replaced after just 18 minutes as he suffered a hamstring injury. Hopefully it’s not serious.
Ezri Konsa, 7 – Strong defensively as he made well-timed challenges and snuffed out danger, while his positioning was spot on. Had a big chance at the other end too with his effort going just past the post.
Pau Torres, 6.5 – Positive display from the Spanish centre-half as he was accurate for the most part with his passing and defended well. Perhaps didn’t influence the game as much as we would have liked though.
Lucas Digne, 6 – Decent shift as he had a difficult task on that left side. However, could, and arguably should, have done better in the lead up to the first goal as he was caught out by Saka and it eventually led to Trossard’s opener.
Amadou Onana, 7 – Strong physical presence in midfield as he gave us a foothold at times, while powering forward to help us produce more of a threat in transition.
Youri Tielemans, 7 – Composed and a technically excellent performance as he got himself out of difficult situations under pressure and helped us break the lines and attack quickly. More positive signs from his partnership with Onana.
Leon Bailey, 6.5 – Worked tirelessly off the ball and showed superb desire to get back and clear danger in the first half to deny Arsenal a big chance. Will perhaps be frustrated that he couldn’t add a more decisive touch to our play in the final third.
Morgan Rogers, 7.5 – A stand-out performance as he was a constant threat for us as he charged forward from deeper areas. Arsenal couldn’t get a hold of him as he powered through towards goal, and all that was ultimately missing was an end product to those moves.
John McGinn, 6.5 – The Villa skipper put in another big shift for the team as he made his presence felt and helped us link things together either through his hold-up play or ticking possession over. Similarly to others, will be disappointed we couldn’t do more damage in attack when on top.
Ollie Watkins, 5.5 – After missing pre-season, it has to be expected that Watkins isn’t going to hit the ground running this season. He looked off the pace and his touch let him down a few times, while he missed two huge chances to put us in a commanding position, and that proved to be costly as we were punished for our wastefulness.
Substitutes:
Kosta Nedeljkovic, 7 – Nervous start as he was thrown on in a difficult situation, but he settled himself well and quickly to put in a good defensive shift as he started to impose himself in the battle with Martinelli in particular. It will be something for him to build on with Cash seemingly set for a spell on the sidelines.
Jhon Duran, 6 – Added fresh impetus and energy to our play in the latter stages, but couldn’t repeat his heroics from last weekend in front of goal.
Jacob Ramsey, 6 – Had a big chance late on to get on the scoresheet but couldn’t convert. Similarly to Duran, gave us a fresh push to try and get something from the game.
Ross Barkley, N/A
Ian Maatsen, N/A
