The match between Aston Villa vs Arsenal ended with the Gunners winning -the nickname Arsenal- with a landslide score of 2-4. After the match, Mikel Arteta as Arsenal coach also gave sky-high praise to his flagship midfielder, Jorginho.
As is known, Arsenal successfully made a comeback in the match against Aston Villa. The match took place at Villa Park Stadium, Birmingham, England, on Saturday (18/2/2023).
The four Gunners goals were scored by Bukayo Saka (16′), Oleksandr Zinchenko (61′), Emiliano Martinez’s own goal (90+3′), and Gabriel Martinelli (90+8′). Meanwhile, Aston Villa’s two goals were born through Ollie Watkins (5′) and Philippe Coutinho (31′).
Aston Villa managed to win 1-0 over Arsenal when the game had been running for six minutes. Ollie Watkins managed to outwit William Lilina and continued with a left-foot shot that thrilled the visitors’ goal.
Arsenal could equalize to 1-1 in the 16th minute. Bukayo Saka’s volley took advantage of a wild ball headed by Tyrone Mings into Villa’s goal.
The match then went tough after the score was tied at 1-1. Villa provided aggressive resistance, making it difficult for Arsenal to be able to pose a threat to the host’s goal.
Villa could even get back ahead of Arsenal in the 32nd minute. Philippe Coutinho’s shot from inside the penalty box which was directed into the right corner of the goal outwitted Aaron Ramsdale and made it 2-1.
Arsenal struggled to score the equalizer. But until the first half ended, Villa was able to maintain a 2-1 advantage over the North London team.
Arsenal got a golden opportunity to equalize to 2-2 in the 56th minute. Ben White’s bait was headed by Eddie Nketiah but the ball that slid to the far post only hit the Villans’ crossbar.
Arsenal’s efforts to equalize finally paid off in the 61st minute. Martin Odegaard’s short pass from a corner was mercilessly shot by Oleksandr Zinchenko which made it 2-2.
After the score 2-2 Arsenal tried to dominate the game with a short game from foot to foot. Meanwhile, Aston Villa launched an attack through a counterattack.
In the 82nd minute, Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey’s penetration effort from the right side managed to threaten Arsenal’s goal after his shot from inside the penalty box hit the crossbar.
In the 87th minute, a shot attempt from inside the penalty box that was released by Bukayo Saka threatened Aston Villa’s goal. However, his shot was saved by the home goalkeeper.
In the 90+2 minute, Aston Villa’s counter-attack again threatened Arsenal’s goal. Unfortunately, John Duran’s shot was saved by Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
However, Arsenal’s attack efforts finally succeeded in creating a third goal through Jorginho in the 90 + 3 minute. Jorginho fired a powerful shot from outside the penalty area which hit the bar, but the rebound hit Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the back and into his own net. However, the goal turned out to be an own goal by Emiliano Martinez.
Even in the 90 + 8th minute, Arsenal managed to add to the score 4-2 through Gabriel Martinelli’s goal after taking advantage of a counter attack.
This victory made Arsenal rise from second place to the top of the Premier League standings, shifting Manchester City. But Arsenal’s position could be in danger of being shifted again by Man City if The Citizens win over Nottingham in tonight’s game.
After the match, Mikel Arteta also praised his central midfielder, Jorginho. Even though he didn’t score, Arteta considered that the Italian player was able to bring his colleagues to impress.
“The greatest quality he (Jorginho) has is that he makes other people look better, better than you really are,” Arteta said as quoted by Arsenal’s official website, Sunday (19/2/2023).
Furthermore, the former assistant coach of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City thinks that Jorginho has had a big impact on Arsenal. Arteta also hopes that fans can see and support the former Chelsea player.
“He has made a huge impact on the players and staff, hopefully our supporters can see that too and give him the support he needs. I thought he was extraordinary today,” continued Mikel Arteta.
Meanwhile, thanks to this victory, Arsenal have successfully returned to their positive trend. The reason is, the Gunners have failed to win in their last three matches in the 2022-2023 Premier League.
The Gunners also managed to return to the top of the 2022-2023 Premier League standings. Bukayo Saka cs collected 54 points and are two points adrift of their closest competitor, Manchester City.
