Arsenal smashed Aston Villa 4-1 at the Emirates to firmly reestablish the Premier League pecking order and a five-point lead atop the table, with Manchester City still to play. After a cagey first half
that saw the ball in play for a paltry 24 minutes, the Gunners exploded in the second half with four goals, putting the match firmly out of reach before Aston Villa scored a meaningless goal in second half added time when the match had already been decided. That game felt really, really good.
I told y’all that Aston Villa were riding their luck. I told y’all that Arsenal were due to smash somebody, too. Villa did not have a shot on target until second half added time. They’d amassed a pathetic, 0.64 xG total before the irrelevant bits at the end. When it mattered, it was all Arsenal. Four goals scored from more than 3.0 xG generated (and Arsenal should have had a penalty for Victor Lindelof’s handball after Villa’s goal but we’ll let it slide because it doesn’t matter).
The match changed in the second half when Amadou Onana was forced off at halftime with a muscle problem picked up in the first half. His athleticism through the middle was causing problems. His carries were single-handedly dragging Villa up the pitch and his presence created time and space for Youri Tielemans to pick passes. Those are problems that Declan Rice would have solved, mind you. So don’t let Villa supporters talk to you about players missing.
Onana was particularly causing issues for Mikel Merino, who kept getting too tight and turned too easily. The Spaniard was quite poor and perhaps a bit lucky to not get a second yellow card at 2-0 up. On the balance, I think it’s fair that he stayed on the pitch because the first yellow was a bit soft and the foul on Morgan Rogers was significantly embellished by a player who, at least today, seemed more familiar with throwing himself theatrically to the ground than staying on his feet and trying to play football.
That was a bit of a running theme for Aston Villa, actually. Onana should have been booked for an early dive where he intentionally either kicked the ground or stopped running under zero contact from William Saliba. Ollie Watkins comically flopped late in the game, which what are you doing, dude? It’s 4-0. Just go home.
Villa’s “dark arts” worked for the first half. The game was disjointed. They were able to create turnovers and chances to break with their little tugs and kicks. It felt like Arsenal were not afforded the same luxury. The play that sticks out in my mind was Rogers’ giveaway in the Villa box — that “foul” killed what would have been an excellent Arsenal chance from a bad turnover. It had the makings of a very frustrating evening where you walk away feeling quite hard done by.
Arsenal reminded everyone that they’re the best team in the Premier League in the second half. And that they can beat you in many different ways. The first goal came from a set piece. I’m not sure, but I think it was Arsenal’s first with Gabriel back on the pitch. Bukayo Saka put the ball into the middle of the goal, five yards out. Emi Martinez, who had grabbed Gabriel’s jersey and shoved him before jumping for the ball, flailed wildly at it. The Villa keeper managed to knock it onto Gabriel’s body before flopping to the ground looking for a call. The ball bounced down the Arsenal defender’s body and into the back of the net. VAR had a long look at it, but there was no foul nor handball. It was just another poor display from Emi Martinez on a corner.
The second goal was entirely of Martin Ødegaard’s making. The captain chased down the ball in the midfield and won it back, turned the play around, carried up the pitch, and played a perfect through ball for Martin Zubimendi. Yes, Arsenal’s defensive midfielder was the furthest man forward, slipping between the CBs to deftly touch the ball into the corner of the net. It was a lovely goal. Ødegaard had another excellent game and had chances to get a goal for himself. As I said after the Brighton match, having him fit and firing makes a world of difference for the Gunners.
Leandro Trossard banged home the Arsenal third goal after a bit of chaos in and around the Aston Villa box. The Belgian midfielder fired a shot into the low, near corner past a completely frozen Emi Martinez. VAR really had a go at wiping the goal off the board, checking Bukayo Saka for offside just before the goal and Piero Hincapie much earlier in the sequence. But neither were offside and the goal stood. If either had been offside, the referee and VAR would have had a decision to make because it looked like Jurrien Timber was tripped in the box. Stinks that we were robbed of the goal reversal, penalty award hilarity but since the reward was an Arsenal goal anyway, you take it.
Gabriel Jesus made it four goals with his first touch after taking the pitch. The ball came to him on the edge of the box and his quick shot beat Emi Martinez, who once again, wasn’t close to making the save. Someone should point out to Gabby J that good things happen when you shoot quickly, like he did on the goal, rather than doing what he often does — take a whole bunch of touches to beat the extra defender for a better shot.
The Arsenal attacker took off his shirt in celebration (earning a yellow card) to reveal a shirt that read “I belong to Jesus.” The Brazilian’s faith is important to him and he has talked about how it helped him through a particularly difficult year spent recovering from an ACL tear. I cannot imagine how good it must have felt for Gabby J to see the ball hit the back of the net. His last goal before his injury came on January 1st, 2025. He scored his first goal back on December 30th, 2025. A lovely bookend.
What a way to end the year. Arsenal owed Aston Villa one in a big way. It’s a big win in the table, too. Despite what some have tried to tell us, I don’t think that Aston Villa are title contenders. But extending the lead to 5 points with no head-to-head matches remaining should pretty much put Arsenal out of their reach. Villa needed a near club-record winning streak to get to this position and they’ve come up just a bit short. They’re probably not going to put that kind of a run together again and they’re almost certainly not going to be five points better than Arsenal in the second half of the season (given they were five points worse than them in the first half).
It’s a two-horse race, as it has been for a while. Arsenal and Manchester City. Again. We’re at the halfway mark and Arsenal are where you’d want to be in a head-to-head battle. They’re on top. It might be a two-point lead after tomorrow, but that’s still a lead. Match or better City’s results to win the title.
