Emiliano Buendia’s stoppage-time goal sealed Arsenal’s 2-1 win on Saturday, sealing their shot at the Premier League title. Aston Villa.
Villa closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to three points, giving Manchester City a chance to close in on Mikel Arteta’s side.
Five minutes into stoppage time at Villa Park, Buendia stunned the visiting team with a shot into the roof of the net.
“Obviously it’s really difficult (to accept) the way it happened last time,” Arteta told TNT Sport.
It was the third consecutive time Arsenal have dropped points away from home after recent draws against Sunderland and Chelsea. These results open up the possibility for rivals like City and Villa to put pressure on the top half.
Villa picked up their ninth win in their last 10 games, moving them into second place. It came after a disastrous start to the season for Unai Emery’s side, which saw them winless after five games.
“We’re in a great situation at the moment,” said Matty Cash, who put Villa ahead in 36th place. “We know it’s not even Christmas yet so we just have to keep demanding and keep being consistent and we’ll see where we go.”
Leandro Trossard came on as a substitute at half-time for Arsenal and was immediately effective, leveling the game seven minutes after the break.
Buendia came on as a substitute in the 87th minute and proved an inspired substitution, firing a shot past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.
“We fought until the last moment, the last second. It was just an unbelievable victory,” he said.
It was Arsenal’s second loss of the season and their first since losing 1-0 to Liverpool in August.
“We are unbeaten in 18 games, but the difference is still very small,” Arteta said. “We have to focus on ourselves and set a standard today especially where we didn’t raise that level as individuals. There was definitely effort and we’ll use that pain to move forward again.”
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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