Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal: Keeper Mat Ryan concedes 74 seconds into Gunners debut

Aston Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez in action against Arsenal's Bukayo Saka — Emiliano Martinez has kept 11 clean sheets in 21 Premier League games since joining Aston Villa from Arsenal for £17m in September

Goalkeeper Mat Ryan conceded 74 seconds into his debut for Arsenal as Aston Villa completed their first top-flight double over the Gunners for 28 years.

Former Arsenal keeper Emiliano Martinez started the move which led to Bertrand Traore pouncing on a mistake by Cedric Soares before Ollie Watkins scored with a shot that deflected off Rob Holding.

Boyhood Gunners fan Ryan, signed on loan from Brighton in January and starting in place of suspended first-choice keeper Bernd Leno, produced a fine save to deny Traore a goal on his return to the Villa side.

Martinez frustrated his former club further when the Argentine produced an excellent save to keep out Granit Xhaka's free-kick.

Villa move up to eighth in the Premier League while Arsenal's second successive defeat leaves them 10th.

Watkins moves into double figures

Villa climbed above Tottenham and closed to within three points of fifth spot through Watkins' 10th Premier League goal since joining from Brentford for a club record £28m in September.

Three of those goals have been against Arsenal, the 25-year-old scoring two in Villa's 3-0 win at Emirates Stadium in November.

After a barren run of games without a goal between November and January, there are clear signs Watkins is warming to playing at a higher level.

In netting Villa's earliest Premier League goal since 2014, Watkins has four goals in his past five top-flight appearances after Cedric's intended pass to Gabriel was way too short, allowing Traore to nip in and cross for the striker to score.

This was Villa's sixth game in 18 days but there was little sign of fatigue as they worked hard to return to winning ways after being picked apart by West Ham on Wednesday.

John McGinn and Jack Grealish were both denied by Ryan while Watkins forced the new Arsenal keeper into two further saves.

Burkina Faso forward Traore brought fresh energy after being a substitute on Wednesday, while Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings helped limit Arsenal to three attempts on target.

During a sustained period of Arsenal pressure, Mings did well to block Emile Smith Rowe's goal-bound attempt and Matty Cash got in the way of Bukayo Saka's shot.

Lacklustre Arsenal

Arsenal once again struggled without their inspirational forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who started on the bench for the second successive game.

Gabon striker Aubameyang has been absent in recent weeks because his mother has been in ill health.

Since the captain last started for his club, the Gunners have gone out of the FA Cup and taken four points from four games in the league, where they are without a win in three.

Aubameyang came on for the final 30 minutes at Villa Park but, despite a spell of sustained pressure towards the end, Mikel Arteta's side failed to score for the third time in five games.

After scoring against Wolves on Tuesday, Nicolas Pepe wasted two good chances while Martinez saved well from Hector Bellerin. Substitute Martin Odegaard blazed a late chance over the bar.

Ryan, Arsenal's fourth keeper of the season, recovered from conceding early to produce some good saves but Arteta's side remain anchored in mid-table, 25 points behind last season's tally of 56 with 15 games left.

What's next?

Both teams have a full week to prepare for their next Premier League matches. Aston Villa visit Brighton next Saturday (20:00 GMT) and Arsenal host Leeds on Sunday, 14 February (16:30).

Player of the match

MingsTyrone Mings

with an average of 8.15

Aston Villa
Arsenal

Aston Villa

Squad number5Player nameMings
Average rating
8.15
Squad number11Player nameWatkins
Average rating
7.68
Squad number10Player nameGrealish
Average rating
7.63
Squad number18Player nameTargett
Average rating
7.57
Squad number2Player nameCash
Average rating
7.54
Squad number26Player nameMartínez
Average rating
7.41
Squad number4Player nameKonsa
Average rating
7.21
Squad number19Player nameNakamba
Average rating
7.19
Squad number7Player nameMcGinn
Average rating
7.19
Squad number15Player nameTraoré
Average rating
7.14
Squad number17Player nameTrézéguet
Average rating
6.76
Squad number20Player nameBarkley
Average rating
6.67
Squad number41Player nameRamsey
Average rating
6.58

Arsenal

Squad number33Player nameRyan
Average rating
5.55
Squad number7Player nameSaka
Average rating
5.47
Squad number32Player nameSmith Rowe
Average rating
5.24
Squad number18Player namePartey
Average rating
4.73
Squad number19Player namePépé
Average rating
4.69
Squad number34Player nameXhaka
Average rating
4.66
Squad number16Player nameHolding
Average rating
4.64
Squad number11Player nameØdegaard
Average rating
4.53
Squad number9Player nameLacazette
Average rating
4.53
Squad number6Player nameGabriel Magalhães
Average rating
4.49
Squad number2Player nameBellerín
Average rating
4.39
Squad number17Player nameCédric Soares
Average rating
3.92
Squad number14Player nameAubameyang
Average rating
3.21
Squad number12Player nameWillian
Average rating
2.75

More to follow

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Aston Villa

Formation 4-2-3-1

26Martínez
2Cash
4KonsaBooked at 31mins
5Mings
18Targett
7McGinn
19NakambaBooked at 35mins
15TraoréSubstituted forTrézéguetat 66'minutes
20BarkleySubstituted forRamseyat 78'minutes
10GrealishBooked at 90mins
11Watkins

Substitutes

1Heaton
6Douglas Luiz
17Trézéguet
21El Ghazi
22Engels
25Sanson
27El Mohamady
39Davis
41Ramsey

Arsenal

Formation 4-2-3-1

33Ryan
2Bellerín
16Holding
6Gabriel
17Cédric SoaresSubstituted forØdegaardat 65'minutes
18ParteyBooked at 52minsSubstituted forWillianat 74'minutes
34XhakaBooked at 90mins
7Saka
32Smith Rowe
19Pépé
9LacazetteSubstituted forAubameyangat 59'minutes

Substitutes

8Ceballos
11Ødegaard
12Willian
13Rúnarsson
14Aubameyang
21Chambers
22Marí
25Elneny
35Martinelli

Referee:: Chris Kavanagh

Match Stats

Home TeamAston VillaAway TeamArsenal

Possession: Home34%; Away66%

Shots: Home12; Away14

Shots on Target: Home8; Away3

Corners: Home3; Away7

Fouls: Home12; Away12

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Aston Villa 1, Arsenal 0.
90'+6'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Aston Villa 1, Arsenal 0.

90'+6'
Booking
Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card.
90'+5'
Post update
Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Tyrone Mings.
90'+4'
Booking
Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
90'+4'
Post update
Foul by Granit Xhaka (Arsenal).
90'+4'
Post update
Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'+2'
Post update
Foul by Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal).
90'+2'
Post update
Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'+1'
Post update
Attempt blocked. Willian (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Granit Xhaka.
90'
Post update
Foul by Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal).
90'
Post update
Trézéguet (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
89'
Post update
Attempt saved. Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Marvelous Nakamba.
85'
Post update
Offside, Aston Villa. Jack Grealish tries a through ball, but Ollie Watkins is caught offside.
84'
Post update
Attempt missed. Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.
83'
Post update
Attempt missed. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Jack Grealish.
82'
Post update
Foul by Willian (Arsenal).
82'
Post update
John McGinn (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
80'
Post update
Attempt saved. Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Granit Xhaka with a headed pass.
80'
Post update
Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Matthew Cash.

Banner Image Reading Around the BBC - Blue

Nothing is unplayable: Disability and the gaming revolution
Eating With My Ex: Can they settle the score and go again?

As It Stands

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Man City	21	14	5	2	39	13	26	47
2	Man Utd	22	13	5	4	46	27	19	44
3	Leicester	22	13	3	6	39	25	14	42
4	Liverpool	22	11	7	4	43	25	18	40

5	West Ham	22	11	5	6	34	28	6	38

6	Chelsea	22	10	6	6	36	23	13	36
7	Everton	20	11	3	6	31	25	6	36
8	Aston Villa	21	11	2	8	36	24	12	35
9	Tottenham	21	9	6	6	34	22	12	33
10	Arsenal	23	9	4	10	27	23	4	31
11	Southampton	22	8	6	8	27	34	-7	30
12	Leeds	21	9	2	10	36	38	-2	29
13	Crystal Palace	22	8	5	9	27	37	-10	29
14	Wolves	22	7	5	10	23	31	-8	26
15	Brighton	23	5	10	8	24	29	-5	25
16	Newcastle	23	6	5	12	22	36	-14	23
17	Burnley	22	6	5	11	13	28	-15	23

18	Fulham	21	2	8	11	17	31	-14	14
19	West Brom	22	2	6	14	18	52	-34	12
20	Sheff Utd	22	3	2	17	14	35	-21	11

.view-comments-button-wrapped-component {display: block !important;} .view-comments-button-wrapper {display: none !important;}

Comments

Join the conversation

367 comments

On the plus side gooners...you finished with the same number of players you started with!

Congrats
eie replied:
Still played with 10 for last 15 mins when William came on
Arsenal look disjointed. Need to up their game.
Aston Villa look good. Solid..
Jack Grealish was impressive too on Football focus!
What a player he has become.
Seriously bodes well for England.
He has to play in the exact same position he does for his beloved club.
No excuses Gareth.
Awesome player. And getting better..
wolves2211 replied:
I only counted about 6 Grealish dives today, on the low side for him.
A good result for us, further emphasising the relatively quick progress we have made under Deano. We are in a better place than we have been for a long time. There will be bumps in the road, so to speak, but we are heading in the right direction. Any doubters of Deano need to remember this and be grateful for where we are now.
Kamann71 replied:
I’ll hold my hand up & say i doubted him. Love to be proved wrong. UTV
I must say Villa have shown a few teams how sticking with your manager can pay dividends !! they really look a different team from last season, well played.
Arsenal fan's thinking top 4 was a possibility.....you'll be back to 13th soon enough....so bad, make Spurs look good
BlackbirdLeysSpurs replied:
Yep we both stink alright
It’s most likely not going to happen. Is it? Winning a football match with Pepe, Wilian, Bellerin and Soares on the pitch at the same time.
Gutted but got what we deserved. A league double over us by Aston Villa.
spreadcity replied:
i know how low can you go
Well played Villa. What did Aubamayang do when he came on for Lacazette?
Apsleyboys replied:
Agreed, he seriously needs to up his game. He doesn’t compete and shows no energy or urgency. You can see the young lads wanting to do well and Martinelli would surely be a MUCH better first change at the moment. You have to earn your place.
How on earth does Willian come on instead of Martinelli? Can't get my head around it.
jmb replied:
Correct. As a Chelsea fan I was disappointed they let Willian go. But after DeB, Hazard and cloth head maybe they got one right
Its sunny at my Villa. Positively bleak at Highbury
mjasghar replied:
Emirates
Good old Arsenal, each time Spurs hit a new low they drag me out of my despair and make me smile again.
R Spanditt replied:
At least Woolwich are good for something. ONE team in north London (and it ain't Woolwich).
Great response Villa, UTFV!!!
wolves2211 replied:
Agreed, was a very good smash n grab. Parked the bus for 89 minutes + stoppages.
For all those Villa fabs doubting Mings... He was superb today! Watkins the best striker we’ve had since Dwight Yorke UTV
andrew replied:
I’ve criticised him and rightly so, a lot of mistakes lately. But today, he was immense, played like he did before his England call up 👍
Huge error selling Martinez
Pires replied:
Why? They were never going to keep both him and Leno and whatever Arsenal's problems are Leno isn't why they've struggled.
Normal service resumed for arsenal
When are Arsenal going to realise that you can’t win games just on possession? You’ve got to turn that into goals. We barely created anything today. Villa had very little of the ball but had the best chances and you couldn’t say they didn’t deserve the point.
Fancy selling that goalie!
Why did arsenal sell martinez?
RDW_SW replied:
Because he couldn't be guaranteed to start after Leno came back from injury.
Enthralling game between two mid table teams. Villa have more individual quality but good team effort from Arsenal. A reminder to Arsenal fans that they are not, and have not been for some time, one of the big clubs in the PL.
anon1 replied:
Anyone who calls them self a genius isn’t and it’s evident from the comment.
Not sure why there are calls for Arteta to go, and that Arsenal are “too big” for him. Of all the teams that will ply their trade in the Premier League next season, Arsenal are the worst London club in the division.
Fifthcolumnist replied:
...unless Brentford get promoted, but there won't be much between them.
Thanks for the goalie