This is the stuff champions are made of.
Sixty-three hours after a gut-wrenching defeat to their main rivals for the Premier League title, Mikel Arteta asked the Gunners to rise off the canvas. Knocked down inside the opening five minutes and struck by another sucker-punch before the interval, they looked out for the count.
But, perhaps stung at the prospect of seeing their campaign implode, they refused to lie down and with the countdown looming, managed to land the killer blow. It was drama of the highest order that sealed it in the third minute of injury-time when the two sides had shared four goals between them.
Set up by Gabriel Martinelli, Jorginho let fly with a first-time shot from the edge of the area. The ball cannoned into the crossbar, bounced down, hit Villa keeper Emi Martinez on the head and bounced over the goalline.
Cue bedlam in the visiting enclosure, in the dug-outs and in the press box where two sets of club analysts had to be separated by stewards.
Still the game wasn’t over. Villa had a corner, Martinez went up for it - hoping to pen a fairytale ending - only to see Fabio Vieira escape upfield with the ball and feed Martinelli who ran it into an empty net.
Cue another dollop of unfettered joy. Arteta could hardly keep the smile off his face afterwards. Why should he? He said: “It’s been a roller-coaster and it was emotional at the end. We showed a lot of resilience, quality and character.
“The context of the game was difficult. With the performance we had against Manchester City and getting nothing out of it, you come here less than 72 hours later and you are one down inside five minutes.
“At half-time I said to the guys: ‘We have to look each other in the face and do much more if we want to win this game. We altered one or two things and produced a very strong performance and should have won it earlier than we did.”
Asked if this was the stuff of champions, he added: “You have to win games in the 94th sand 96th-minutes, you are going to have to score from set-plays, score when you’re down to ten men. They showed a lot of emotional quality we need out there.”
This was a cracker. The tone set inside the first five minutes when Ollie Watkins collected Matt Cash’s pass and had William Saliba in front of him but one quick step-over and cross-shot later and Villa had the lead.
Arsenal regained their composure and were pressing but were given a huge helping hand by Tyrone Mings. He inexplicably headed Ben White ’s cross into play and Bukayo Saka smashed the gift into the roof of the net.
At this stage, Villa were rocking but managed to produce the goal of the game. Boubacar Kamara exchanged passes with Philippe Coutinho and then set Alex Moreno clear down the left. The Spaniard’s pull-back was stepped over by Emi Buendia for Coutinho to control and finish from the edge of the area, registering his first goal since the final day of last season.
Arsenal continued on the front foot. Villa switched off from a short corner, the ball laid into Zinchenko’s path and that left foot rattled a shot inside Martinez’s left-hand post.
Martin Odegaard missed a sitter, Eddie Nketia rounded Villa’s keeper but spooned his chance over the bar. At the other end, Leon Bailey ran from the halfway line and connected with a shot that Aaron Ramsdale pushed onto the crossbar.
It was breathless stuff and continued as such into the third minute of injury-time when Jorginho’s strike came off the bar, only to hit the back of Emi Martinez's head and into the bottom corner. And the drama didn't stop there with Gabriel Martinelli putting the game out of reach minutes later, with Martinez stranded after going up for a corner.
Villa boss Unai Emery was unhappy afterwards, saying: “I’m very disappointed, frustrated - it’s embarrassing to lose two matches 2-4 at home in front of our supporters. Eight goals at home in two games is not normal. The performances can’t continue like that.”
