A dejected Mikel Arteta pointed out his team’s failure to clear the ball moments before Aston Villa’s dramatic late winner was the main reason for their defeat. Arsenal squandered the opportunity to extend their advantage at the Premier League summit, suffering a 2-1 defeat in heartbreaking circumstances at Villa Park. Villa had opened the scoring in the first half through Matty Cash, before Leandro Trossard restored parity with another goal off the bench for the Gunners.
However, instead of capitalising on that equaliser, the home side intensified their attacking efforts, with Emi Buendia firing home deep into stoppage time. The goal sparked jubilant celebrations, with Unai Emery’s side now sitting just three points behind the leaders and firmly in title contention. Arteta lamented his players’ inability to deal with a long ball from goalkeeper Emi Martinez, which led to the chaotic build-up to the decisive goal.
“In the second half we started really well,” he told TNT Sports. “We were very dominant, but then the same issues returned. We allowed certain opponents too much space.
“We gave the ball away ourselves, to the point where it could have cost us the game, before it actually did. Goal kick long, second ball…clear the ball. Individual actions and a lot of chaos in the box and you end up losing it. So it’s painful.”
This marks only Arsenal‘s second defeat of the campaign and brings to an end their lengthy unbeaten streak across all competitions, which dated back to their loss against Liverpool in August.
Arteta reflected on the fine margins his side are dealing with: “Every week will be like this. We are 18 games unbeaten and the margins are so small. We have to focus on ourselves and certain standards today – individual levels weren’t there in some cases. We have to go again.
“Consistency levels with everything that happened to us has been incredible. I have no arguments to think otherwise.”
In contrast, Emery was thrilled as Villa extended their winning streak to seven matches across all competitions. He commented: “So happy. We finished this week really playing like we need to – competing, demanding ourselves, adapting to the opponent and playing with personality.
“Dominating sometimes and getting in the box, being intense and aggressive when we needed. Villa Park is special, the supporters transmit the energy to us. How they responded is fantastic.
“We are going to focus game by game. We know our only way is if we are trying to focus on each competition. Europa League we want to play well but Premier League is our first priority. We have to respond like we did it today.”