Aston Villa had tried to kick Arsenal when they were down. Instead, Mikel Arteta’s side stood up, in the most scarcely possible way. On a thunderous afternoon at Villa Park, Jorginho’s stunning strike from the edge of the box cannoned off the underside of the crossbar, rebounding off the back of former Arsenal goalkeeper Emi Martinez, denying former Arsenal manager Unai Emery, and, somehow, keeping Arsenal’s Premier League title bid alive.
This was a statement response from Arteta’s challengers: they faced not only the shortest possible turnaround from Wednesday’s defeat at home to title rivals Manchester City, a result that threatened to suck the air out of their challenge as Pep Guardiola’s side returned to the top of the table, but also an Aston Villa side who sensed an opportunity. This was as good a time to play Arsenal as you could hope for, and yet as Gabriel Martinelli raced away to score Arsenal’s fourth into an empty net in the 98th minute, sealing a 4-2 comeback win, it’s hard to imagine how Arteta’s team could have reacted to their defeat to City in a better way.
