Aston Villa stun Arsenal, close gap in title race: Stats
What's the story
Aston Villa have dealt a major blow to Arsenal's Premier League title hopes by winning 2-1 at Villa Park. Emiliano Buendia scored the match-winning goal in the dying moments of the game, leaving Mikel Arteta's side reeling. The result sees Unai Emery's men move up to second place on the table, just three points behind leaders Arsenal. Here are further details and stats.
Match highlights
Villa's early lead and Arsenal's equalizer
The match started with Matty Cash giving Villa an early lead in the first half. However, Arsenal's Leandro Trossard, who came off the bench, equalized early in the second half. Despite several opportunities for Arsenal to take the lead—most notably a stunning save from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez against Martin Odegaard—the game remained tied until Buendia's late heroics sealed victory for Aston Villa.
Title implications
Villa's victory ignites title race: Standings
Buendia's late goal sparked wild celebrations among the Villa fans and reignited the Premier League title race. The win gives Manchester City an opportunity to close in on Arsenal if they win their game in hand. After 15 matches, Arsenal sit atop with 33 points. This was their 2nd defeat this season (W10 D3). Aston Villa picked up their 9th win of the season (D3 L3). They own 30 points and are three behind Arsenal. This was their 5th successive league win.
Match stats
A look at the match stats
Hosta Villa had 47% ball possesssion and clocked 15 attempts with 6 shots on target. Arsenal had 53% ball possession with nine shots on target from 15 attempts. Villa's xG was 2.27 with Arsenal's xG being 1.84. Both sides had three corners each. Villa created 2 big chances with Arsenal creating three. Villa had 43 touches in the opposition box compared to Arsenal's 32.
Trossard
Trossard completes 50 Premier League goals
Playing his 219th Premier League encounter, Trossard has raced to 50 goals. He also owns 34 assists. Trossard scored 25 Premier League goals for Brighton and now owns 25 goals for Arsenal. He is the fifth Belgian player to notch 50 Premier League goals after Romelu Lukaku (121), Christian Benteke (86), Eden Hazard (85) and Kevin De Bruyne (72). As per Squawka, since his Premier League debut for Arsenal in January 2023, no player has more goal involvements as a substitute in the competition than Trossard (G7 A3).
Do you know?
Unwanted record for Arsenal boss Arteta
As per Opta, Arsenal have lost six Premier League games against Aston Villa under Mikel Arteta. It's their second-most against an opponent under the Spaniard (7 vs Manchester City).
Information
Arsenal concede second-latest winning goal
In the 95th minute (94:03), Buendía scored the second-latest winning goal Arsenal have conceded on record (from 2006-07) in a Premier League game, after June 2020 vs Brighton (94:26).