Aston Villa was absolutely scorching – 11 consecutive wins in all competitions, and only needed one more win to tie a club record. No team in the history of Aston Villa has ever won 12 straight games. Looks like this record is going to have to wait a little while longer.
It seemed like everyone thought that Arsenal would be struggling because Aston Villa was missing two of its best defenders – Konsa and Kamara – due to suspension. However, in fact it was much more agonizing to watch how Arsenal performed in the midfield area without injured Rice. I know that Arsenal lost Rice in the middle last week, as well as playing him out of position at right back, but the task was clearly harder against Villa.
The low building sequence from the back was sloppy and ended with Gyökeres losing the ball directly in the middle of the field. Two seconds later Watkins had a phenomenal opportunity to knock it in near post and somehow missed it by mere inches. This could have easily been the most pivotal moment in the first 45 (excluding Dua Lipa taking a selfie in the stands).
All of the things that mattered occurred after the intermission. At halftime Arsenal got their act together, took control and ultimately took what was theirs. It all began – how could it not? – with a corner. Gabriel scored once again from a set piece delivery. Yes, he clipped the Villa goalkeeper – looked dubious – but in the Premier League, they generally allow play to continue in these instances.
Following that, Arsenal felt very comfortable. Shortly thereafter, Sambi Zubimedi scored with a simple finish on a lovely Ødegaard through pass and calmly put it past the goalkeeper one-on-one. Trossard effectively shut the door on the game with a beautiful third – perfect corner to the far upper bin. Trossard has been fantastic lately and has finally received the attention he deserves – that’s already five of the season for him.
Arsenal 4-1 Aston Villa – ghettoradio.co.ke
Just to add insult to injury, Jesus came along and gave the fans a cheeky fourth, essentially saying hello to Gyökeres who still can’t convince many people. And what about the Brazilian celebration? He took his jersey off and flashed the world the message “I belong to Jesus.” Some people certainly remember kaká.
For some reason the referee added eight additional minutes to the end of the match when the outcome of the game was already sealed and there was no chance whatsoever of a comeback by Villa. Perhaps he felt sorry for Villa and wanted to give them a chance to get at least one goal back. And to nobody’s surprise — they managed to do so. This time Watkins didn’t miss — literally one meter outside of the net and open.
Final score: 4-1.
Arsenal now holds first place for Christmas — and for the first half of the season as well.
