Brazilian boys do the necessary to give Arsenal victory over Villa
ON THE MARK: Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli. Photo: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.
BOYS FROM BRAZIL Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli scored the goals to keep Arsenal top of the embryonic Premier league table with five wins from their opening five matches.
Under-fire Steven Gerrard's Villa were briefly level thanks to a freak Douglas Luiz goal but there was only ever one team in this highly-charged encounter. Only Leicester, who play tonight, are keeping Villa off the bottom.
Mikel Arteta's side now face their toughest test to date when they go to old rivals Manchester United on Sunday. Play like this and it will be a match worth watching.
Arsenal's bruising weekend win over an unusually physical Fulham side turned out to be good preparation for this match as Steven Gerrard's Villa dished out some stern early challenges on striker Jesus.
This Arsenal side can handle itself, however, and soon Villa captain John McGinn was complaining to referee Robert Jones about an elbow to his face from Sambi Lokonga – called in to start in the absence of injured midfield duo Thomas Partey and Mohammed Elneny.
The match then settled in to a one-way flow towards the Aston Villa goal and former Arsenal keeper Emi Martinez.
The 2020 FA Cup Final-winning hero reminded home fans why he was and is so highly rated with a brilliant reflex save from Jesus and two solid stops from free-scoring defender Gabriel.
Only Everton have a worse Premier League record than Gerrard since he replaced Dean Smith last November and he made four changes from his side that lost at home to West Ham at the weekend to try and get a much-needed result.
The former Liverpool midfielder anxiously paced along the edge of his technical area, directly in front of the press box, and was soon watching Martinez perform more heroics against Jesus and his defenders making last-ditch blocks to deny goal-bound shots from Martin Odegaard.
Villa are not the best – far from it - but they showed they are committed to the cause by repeatedly throwing bodies on the line for Gerrard's cause.
Arsenal had only Bukayo Saka to blame for not converting their next chance when he half volleyed wide from close range after a stinging Martinelli far post cross.
Martinez finally buckled after 31 minutes when he spilled a deflected ball into the box from Granit Xhaka and Jesus pounced to drive in the rebound for his third goal of the season.
Following an incredible goalmouth scramble and a Martinez wonder save from Martinelli just before half-time, the only positive for Villa going into the break was that they only trailed by one and still had a say in the match.
That Villa had only two shots to Arsenal's mind-boggling 15 in the opening 45 minutes was a fair reflection of the match.
The second period was little different as Jesus still set the tone for effort and enterprise in the packed, noisy stadium. The Brazilian drew a blatant yellow card foul from Ezri Konsa and Odegaard's ensuing free-kick was finger-tipped around a post by Martinez.
When Arsenal dominate matches like this it is hard to judge the opposition, but it feels fairly safe to write they will continue to compete at opposite ends of the table for the rest of the season.
The introduction of fit again right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu for Ben White for the final half an hour seemed to give them an extra attacking edge.
But nothing was certain without a second goal and Gerrard sensed an unlikely chance to salvage something moments after Leon Bailey went close with a right foot shot and sent on Phillippe Countinho and Douglas Luiz.
It was a bold move with 20 minutes to go. The impact was instant as Luiz whipped in an equaliser direct from a corner. Aaron Ramsdale claimed he was fouled but VAR allowed the goal to stand.
The 74th minute Villa celebrations were long and loud from players, coaches and fans alike but they had only three minutes to savour the moment.
Arsenal remained composed, continued to pass and move and Martinelli got on the end of a pin point Saka cross to beat his mate Martinez with a not altogether convincing half volley.
The sight of captain Odegaard hobbling off soon after will be a cause for concern ahead of Sunday's showdown at Old Trafford but the Norway international remained on the bench rather than seek immediate medical treatment.
Ramsdale 6; White 6 (Tomiyasu 64), Saliba 6, Gabriel 6, Tierney 6; Odegaard 7 (Smith Rowe 81), Lokonga 6, Xhaka 7; Saka 7 (Nketiah 87), Jesus 8 (Holding 87), Martinelli 7.
Turner, Cedric, Smith, Vieira, Marquinhos.
Martinez 6, Cash 6, Konsa 5, Mings 6, Digne 5, Ramsey 5, Kamara 6 (Ings 83), McGinn 5 (Luiz 73), Buendia 6 (Coutinho 73), Watkins 5, Bailey 6.
Olsen, Chambers, Augustinsson, Young, Archer, Iroegbunam.
Robert Jones 5
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