Buendia springs off bench to stun Arsenal at the death as Aston Villa go second 

Argentine midfielder Emiliano Buendia was sent on with three minutes of normal time remaining as Villa boss Unai Emery plotted his way to win against his former club and dent their early-season title hopes.

Aston Villa's Emi Buendia (left) celebrates. Pic: Nick Potts/PA Wire.

ASTON VILLA 2-1 ARSENAL

Emiliano Buendia came off the bench to stun Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders with a 95th-minute winner and the very last kick of the match. 

The Argentine midfielder was sent on with three minutes of normal time remaining as Villa boss Unai Emery plotted his way to win against his former club and dent their early-season title hopes.

The Arsenal manager, up against his predecessor, had to squeeze every ounce of energy out of his battle-weary squad after Matty Cash shot in-form home side into a half-time lead. His introduction of goalscoring substitute Leandro Trossard sparked the comeback, which seemed to set them on course for a second successive weekend away day draw.

It was a highly charged, high-quality match from start to finish, and a Villa win was just about the right result, if only for the way they finished.

It could have been such a different outcome for Arsenal as they lost only their second match of the season in all competitions.

The Premier League’s best defence was finally breached when attacking right-back Cash shot his side into a 36th-minute lead. Eze switched off as a cross found its way to the far post and Cash stole in behind him to fire a clean shot through Raya’s legs. Impressive, but preventable.

Arteta remained optimistic as Villa and the murky Midlands rain tried to put a dampener on Arsenal’s early-season title charge by making a bold double substitution at half-time. Striker Viktor Gyokeres and winger Trossard came on for the misfiring Eze and Mikel Merino.

The impact was immediate as Arsenal set up camp in and around the Villa area with Trossard twice going close before finally ramming home a 52nd-minute equaliser. Ex-Arsenal No.1 Emi Martinez could only parry a Bukayo Saka shot into the path of the Belgium international, who gleefully scored his seventh goal of the season for club and country.

Arsenal remained just about on top as Villa recovered their composure but nearly took the lead through a long-range Martin Odegaard effort, which was tipped over the bar at full stretch by Martinez.

Villa substitute Donyell Malen dragged wide a great chance to win the match for Villa with 12 minutes to go. Arteta tried his luck again by replacing a tiring Saka with fellow England singer Noni Madueke straight after, as the match built towards a tense finish.

Villa, though, looked the most likely to win now as they attacked in numbers, backed by a vociferous home crowd. And Buendia shot home through a crowd of Arsenal defenders as they tried to salvage their way out of a late, late goalmouth scramble.

Aston Villa: Martinez 6, Cash 7 (Lindelof 87), Konsa 6, Torres 7 (Buendia 87), Maatsen 6, Onana 7 (Sancho 75), Tielemans 6, Kamara 6, McGinn 6 (Bogarde 75), Rogers 7, Watkins 7 (Malen 66). Subs: Bizot, Digne, Garcia, Hemmings.

Arsenal: Raya 7, White 7, Timber 7, Hincapie 7, Calafiori 8 (Lewis-Skelly 86), Zubimendi 7, Rice 8, Odegaard 7, Saka 7 (Madueke 79), Eze 5 (Trossard 46, Martinelli 86), Merino 6 (Gyokeres 46). Subs: Kepa, Salmon, Norgaard, Nwaneri.

Referee: Peter Bankes 4