Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal: Gunners pull off remarkable comeback win

Little by little, the dream had been slipping further away. Arsenal had come from behind twice at Villa Park but Martin Odegaard had missed an open goal with 12 minutes left and it appeared that two more precious points in the title race would be dropped. 

It seemed as if this was one more episode watching in grim fascination as Arsenal’s title challenge imploded. A football match transformed into a rubberneckers’ convention.

And then everything changed. Three minutes into added time, the ball was laid across the face of the Aston Villa area to Jorginho and he smashed an unstoppable drive over the dive of Emiliano Martinez. 

Arsenal hearts soared and then sank as the ball cannoned down off the bar. But as Martinez fell to earth, the ball bounced down on to the back of his head and rolled across the goal line.

The Arsenal fans corralled in the section adjacent to the goal went wild. With their former boss Unai Emery now in charge at Villa, Arsenal had been set up to be the victims of the ‘law of the ex’ here. 

Jorginho celebrates after his strike went in off Emiliano Martine to put Arsenal in front

Gabriel Martinelli then netted a breakaway goal to seal the win for the Gunners

The comeback win sparked jubilant scenes from Mikel Arteta as Arsenal went top of the table

Instead, they made the law of the ex work for them instead. Martinez was once the keeper at the Emirates and has not endeared himself to Arsenal fans since his move. The travelling supporters took particular delight in his despair.

It wasn’t over, either. In the dying seconds of the game, Martinez went up to join an attack and when Arsenal broke away, Gabriel Martinelli ran on to a through ball just inside the Villa half and was greeted with the sight of an open goal. 

He took a couple of touches and when he got to the edge of the area, he raised his arms in the air in the manner of a rugby player celebrating a try early or a running back knowing he’s about to enter the end zone.

It isn’t normally done in football but such was the startling nature of the game’s transformation that Arsenal had gone in the space of three minutes from a team that was watching its season disintegrate, a team that was on the verge of a fourth league match without a win, into a side that had got all of its swagger back.

The win took them three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League again, at least for a couple of hours. Maybe this kind of melodrama was just what they needed. Maybe summoning this triumph from adversity will give them the inspiration to rejoin the battle with City. Maybe now, they will believe.

In the stands, Hollywood actor Tom Hanks watched from the directors’ box. In the late 80s, he starred in a film called Big about a boy who puts money in a slot at the fairground and turns into a man. 

Eventually the man turns back into the kid and for 90 minutes at Villa Park, it felt as if this was the finish of Arsenal’s shot at mixing it with the grown-ups. Six minutes later, and maybe this particular movie might have a different ending.

Ollie Watkins had put Aston Villa ahead early on with a fine left-footed strike

Bukayo Saka pulled Arsenal level with a powerful strike into the roof of the net

Villa went back in front when Philippe Coutinho (left) rounded off a stunning team move

Villa had taken the lead after five minutes. Matty Cash stole the ball away from Olesksandr Zinchenko deep in Villa’s half and the lofted a brilliant, controlled pass into the path of Watkins. Watkins squared up William Saliba, one of Arsenal’s best performers this season, danced past him on the outside and then rifled a low left-foot shot through the dive of Aaron Ramsdale.

It was a fine finish but it all felt too easy. Arsenal’s defence had been unlocked in Villa’s first attack. Saliba had been left isolated so early in the game and Watkins had gone past him as if he wasn’t there, without the defender making a challenge. Arsenal were dazed. 

A couple of minutes later, Ramsdale dallied on the ball on his line and left it so long to clear it that Watkins charged it down. The goalkeeper was relieved to see the ball go wide.

Gradually, though, Arsenal regrouped. Tyrone Mings made a brilliant saving lunge to flick a point-blank header from Eddie Nketiah on to the bar and even if it soon became apparent the effort would have been ruled out for an earlier offside, it was a reminder of Mings’ value to the side. 

A couple of minutes later, though, it was a mistake from the central defender that allowed Arsenal back into the game.

Ben White clipped a ball in from the right and Mings intercepted it near the goalline. Instead of heading it behind for a corner, he nodded it straight back into the heart of the area where Bukayo Saka was waiting. 

Saka let the ball bounce and then hit it straight and true past Emiliano Martinez and into the roof of the net. It was a bad mistake from Mings but it reflected Arsenal’s recovery.

Arsenal seemed to have settled into their stride but after half an hour, Villa went ahead again. Moreno overlapped down the left and ran on to a ball inside White. He crossed for Emiliano Buendia, who dummied the ball so beautifully that it rooted two Arsenal defenders to the spot. The ball ran to Philippe Coutinho, who took a touch and then swept the ball past Ramsdale.

Arsenal dominated possession again after the break and pressed for an equaliser. Saka, who had been involved in a fracas with Coutinho before the interval and had been singled out for rough treatment by Villa, was a constant threat but it was another cross from White ten minutes into the second half that was nearly the prompt for an equaliser. Nketiah rose to meet it but his header bounced away off the face of the bar.

Villa were too passive now, though, and an equaliser felt inevitable. It came after an hour when Saka and Odegaard took a short corner and Odegaard rolled it to Zinchenko on the edge of the Villa area. 

Oleksandr Zinchenko made it 2-2 with an excellent shot into the bottom corner

Arsenal refused to give in and eventually got over the line as the picked up a huge win

Zinchenko had a lot of space and a lot of time to steady himself and he unleashed an arrow of a left foot shot past the outstretched left hand of Martinez.

Arsenal should have gone ahead with 13 minutes left when Nketiah caught Ezri Konsa in possession on the edge of the Villa box and slid a pinpoint pass to Odegaard, who was unmarked ten yards out and faced with an open goal. The finish seemed like a formality but somehow Odegaard dragged his shot wide of the left hand post.

Arsenal could not believe they had wasted such a golden opportunity and a few minutes later they almost had cause to regret it more. Villa substitute Leon Bailey took a high ball down out of the sky, killing it beautifully on his instep, and set off for goal. He beat his man and his fierce drive was destined for the roof of the net until Ramsdale touched it on to the bar with a brilliant reaction save.

Arsenal would not give up on the dream, though. Saliba should have scored with a flick header from a corner but then Jorginho unleashed his thunderbolt and Martinelli dashed through on the breakaway. And in the stands, Tom Hanks probably felt he could make a decent script out of this.