Arsenal kicked off Matchweek 24 in the Premier League with their early trip to Aston Villa and what a game this tie turned out to be!
The Gunners entered this game on the back of a three-game winless run, having surrendered the top spot to Manchester City after defeats to Everton and Guardiola's men, sandwiched by a 1-1 draw at home to Brentford.
And to make matters worse, Arteta's men started this Villa Park tie in the worst way possible. After only five minutes, the North London giants found themselves 1-0 down courtesy of a lovely goal from Ollie Watkins.
Bukayo Saka continued his fine goalscoring form and equalized for the visitors 11 minutes later but come the half-an-hour mark, the Claret and Blue were back in front, with Philippe Coutinho this time punishing Arsenal. As a result, the Gunners entered the break 2-1 down with several questions being asked of them.
However, come the second 45 minutes, the Premier League giants dialed up their performance tremendously and began putting the hosts under tons of pressure. After a couple of misses, Arsenal were rewarded at the hour mark as Oleksandr Zinchenko scored a vital equalizer, his first in an Arsenal shirt.
After squandering further crucial opportunities, the Gunners looked like they were headed for a disappointing draw. However, Jorginho had other ideas as he all but scored the decisive goal in the third minute of stoppage time — it went down as an Emiliano Martinez own goal but Jorginho's wonder strike was vital. Check it out in the clips below (videos are geo-restricted).
Arsenal look to have won it in injury time!
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 18, 2023
A crucial three points are heading back to North London... pic.twitter.com/hDgZIdOHa7
THE GUNNERS ARE AHEAD IN STOPPAGE TIME!
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 18, 2023
It's an own goal by Emi Martinez as the ball ricochets off the crossbar onto Martinez's back and into the net.
: @USANetwork #MyPLMorning | #AVLARS pic.twitter.com/kkQWLHwkEr
Then, in the dying seconds of the game, Gabriel Martinelli twisted the knife in Aston Villa's heart after burying the ball into an empty net to make it 4-2 as Emi Martinez had come out for a last-minute Aston Villa corner kick.
Arsenal are the first team to have FOUR players with 10+ goals & assists in the PL this season:
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) February 18, 2023
Martin Ødegaard
Bukayo Saka
Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Martinelli
Sharing the load.
Having come back from a goal down on two separate occasions, the Arsenal players and coaching staff understandably celebrated this victory thoroughly. This saw the Gunners temporarily move three points clear at the top and, more importantly, it ended their worrying winless run.