Arsenal followed up their tremendous wins over Liverpool and Manchester City with a baffling result last night, as they were beaten 1-0 by relegation strugglers Aston Villa at Villa Park. A lovely strike from Trezeguet wound up serving as the winning goal, and after the game, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta spoke to the media about the defeat.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has taken the time to speak with the media ahead of tonight’s clash with Aston Villa which will determine whether or not they’re still in with a chance of finishing in the top seven. If they do finish in the top seven, and they lose in the FA Cup final, they’ll still qualify for the UEFA Europa League next season based on their league position.
It’s been a long and somewhat turbulent campaign for both Aston Villa and Arsenal over the course of the last twelve months, but finally, the end is in sight for both. Both clubs have a chance at having one hell of a successful finale, but at the same time, mass failure is also on the table.
The two clubs are set to meet at Villa Park tomorrow night, and prior to that encounter, we thought it’d be good to give our own thoughts on what we think is going to go down. It’s hardly guaranteed to be a backburner, but either way, we’re hoping that they both put on a show in the second city.
Arsenal produced an inspiring comeback to beat Aston Villa at the Emirates by 3-2, courtesy of a Nicolas Pepe penalty to equalize the first time, a superb finish from Calum Chambers to equalize the second time, and a late free-kick winner by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to nail the three points to the board.
Arsenal’s 0-3 win in the Europa League match against Eintracht Frankfurt yesterday evening sure came as a relief to coach Emery. The three goals were scored by Joe Willock, Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 38th, 85th and 88th minute, respectively, making Eintracht Frankurt concede their first home defeat in ten years.
It was 18-year-old Saka’s fifth first-team appearance and his first goal for the club this season. Speaking after the match Saka said he was very proud of his achievement, which included two assists and one goal. He said it was his dream to score for Arsenal’s first team, and now that his dream has come true he wants to “do more” for the club. Saka is now the youngest player who scored for the Gunners in Europa League, having turned 18 only a couple of weeks ago.
The Premier League season is underway, and while every single game is going to count for the Gunners, there’s no way of getting around it: they need to have a strong run of form at home if they want to be successful. They’ve struggled away from the Emirates for a few years now, whereas their ability to get the job done at home has consistently gotten them out of jail more times than we can count.
It’s always nice to take a trip down memory lane, especially as we live in such a cynical era for the beautiful game. Instead of drifting away from the past we should be embracing it and celebrating it, especially when it comes to Arsenal Football Club, as there’s a lot to be happy about from years gone by.
Today, we’re going to take a quick look at a pretty important game that went down 13 years ago today: Arsenal vs Aston Villa. These two historic English football clubs squared off back in 2006 at Emirates Stadium. The reason why that’s so important is because it was the first Premier League game that had been played at the brand new stadium, following the move over from Highbury.
Wolves (A)
Assuming Wolves aren’t in the latter stages of the Europa League at this point, this game could be dangerous. The last time Arsenal went to Molineux they were thoroughly beaten by a Wolves side that, simply put, were much better than them. Will the same thing happen again? Don’t be surprised.
Leicester (H)
Leicester City are a tricky side to deal with, but even with that being the case, there shouldn’t be any kind of overwhelming worry regarding what they’re capable of – especially if Brendan Rodgers is still at the helm. That may seem and sound a little bit harsh, but they just don’t strike us as an intimidating side.
Tottenham (H)
Winning the first North London derby of the season would be a huge sign of intent from this Arsenal team, to the point where we’re pretty much convinced that it would set them on their way towards the top four.
Watford (A)
They aren’t intimidating, to be perfectly honest, and we don’t consider last season to be an indication of what they’re going to do in the next. They fall short of the top six, and even seven when you include Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Aston Villa (H)
City of Manchester Stadium – 55,017
They call it a tinpot ground and while we’d like to give City fans the benefit of the doubt, we just can’t. It feels a little bit soulless there and bizarrely enough, that was also the case before they were even taken over. Perhaps it was a foreshadowing of some sort.
Anfield – 54,074
It’s not in a great area and the stadium itself isn’t all that impressive, but the atmosphere, especially on European nights, makes you forget about all of that. It’s just a really special place to watch a game of football and the only people you’ll find to disagree with that probably spend their days at Old Trafford or Goodison.
