Arsenal‘s title hope suffered a huge setback as they fell to a last-gasp 2-1 defeat away at Aston Villa on Saturday.
The hosts took the lead in the 36th minute through Matty Cash, capping off what was an excellent first-half showing.
However, shortly after the break, substitute Leandro Trossard drew Arsenal level with a close-range effort at the far post.
Both sides passed up good opportunities from there and looked to be playing out a draw, until Emi Buendia showed ultimate composure to win it for Villa with the final kick of the match.
Arsenal’s 18-match unbeaten streak across all competitions has come to an end, while Villa have now moved just three points behind the leaders in the Premier League table.
Read on for full player ratings using our Squawka Score.
The Squawka Score is our proprietary performance rating, combining multiple Opta stats into a single percentage. It benchmarks players against their positional peers, allowing quick comparisons. Player ratings are given only to players who play 15 minutes or more. Learn more about how it works here: https://www.squawka.com/en/news/squawka-score-explained/
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Aston Villa player ratings
Emi Martinez: 76%
Made a host of vital saves, especially in the second half as Arsenal asserted their dominance. Ended the game with 0.44 goals prevented.
Key stats:
- Saves: 7
- Goals prevented: 0.44
- Passes completed: 29
- Passing accuracy: 66%
- Goals conceded: 1
Matty Cash: 72%
Took his goal superbly to reach four for the season in the Premier League — no Aston Villa player has scored more. Wasteful on the ball in the second half, passing up a number of crossing opportunities.
Ezri Konsa: 58%
Maintained a 100% passing accuracy, despite the pressure Arsenal applied after the break. Kept things simple defensively, making five clearances and four recoveries.
Pau Torres: 59%
Showed great passing range, completing five of seven attempted long balls and eight passes into the final third. Stood up tall in the face of Arsenal pressure, with one block, two clearances and a 100% success rate on aerial duels.
Ian Maatsen: 57%
Won a couple of timely free-kicks to help relieve Arsenal pressure. Won five of his 10 duels, while making one tackle, three clearances and two recoveries. Was dribbled past just twice in crucial battles against Bukayo Saka and, at the end, Noni Madueke.
Boubacar Kamara: 64%
Covered almost every single blade of grass as he put everything on the pitch for his team. The Frenchman made three tackles, six recoveries, one block and a vital goalline clearance, while also completing 93% of his passes. He did, however, pass up a great chance in the second half, losing possession in the Arsenal box when he had a shot on goal and several dangerous passing options available to him. Made up for it by keeping the ball alive for the last-gasp winner.
Amadou Onana: 53%
Lost possession way too easily for the Arsenal equaliser, going down as an error leading to a goal. Tidy if quiet and ineffective otherwise.
John McGinn: 55%
A typically industrial performance, though he did cut open the Arsenal defence a couple of times with some wonderfully precise passes.
Youri Tielemans: 62%
Dipped in and out of the game, but did a good job of disrupting the rhythm of Zubimendi and Rice. Made six possession recoveries, three tackles and an interception.
Morgan Rogers: 67%
Lost more duels (11) than any other player, though five of those were in the air. Created two chances and had one shot from a tight angle in the final 10 minutes. Not at the levels he’s enjoyed over the last couple of weeks, but still looked capable of hurting Arsenal.
Ollie Watkins: 55%
Made a few dangerous runs and battled hard against Arsenal’s defenders, contesting eight duels and winning four. That also includes a 100% record from his three dribbles. Missed a couple of very good chances in both halves and was brought off as his influence waned.
Donyell Malen: 50%
Added fresh impetus to Villa’s attack. Missed a great chance to settle the tie in the 78th minute, but did superbly well to hold up the ball during the Villa attack that won the match at the end.
Jadon Sancho: 65%
Made a big impact from the bench, created two chances, including one big chance.
Lamare Bogarde: 60%
Saw plenty of the ball in his short time on the pitch and was precise with it, while also making one clearance and one recovery.
Arsenal player ratings
David Raya: 62%
Nutmegged for the first Villa goal, though he was scrambling to the far post. Made some important saves during sustained spells of pressure from the hosts, but could do nothing to stop the winner.
Ben White: 65%
Added an extra dimension to the Arsenal attack and managed to get one shot on target and create one big chance. Solid defensively, with nobody managing to dribble past him as he made three tackles, one clearance, one block and five recoveries.
Jurrien Timber: 65%
Looked totally at ease as he shifted to centre-back. Three tackles, one block, three clearances, two interceptions and four recoveries in an excellent defensive display.
Piero Hincapie: 57%
Mostly followed Timber’s lead with some big defensive interventions, though he was dribbled past three times.
Riccardo Calafiori: 59%
Took up some extremely advanced positions as he looked to unsettle the Villa defence, but didn’t manage to threaten too much. Solid enough defensively.
Martin Odegaard: 69%
Completed the most passes of any player on the pitch (57) and created three chances, including one big chance. Tested Martinez with three shots, though they were all from outside the box.
Key stats:
- Passes completed: 57
- Shots (on target): 3 (3)
- Chances created: 3
- Passes into final third: 9
- Recoveries: 7
Martin Zubimendi: 58%
Tidy with the ball, but often struggled to find his flow with Tielemans breathing down his neck. Played his part defensively in what ultimately turned out to be a heartbreaking defeat.
Declan Rice: 65%
Created one big chance and completed 92% of his passes, but Rice’s best work was defensively, where he made 10 recoveries, two tackles, two blocks, five clearances and two interceptions, while winning four of his five duels. Time and again, it was Rice who snuffed out Villa counter-attacks. He didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
Bukayo Saka: 63%
Created a match-high four chances, mostly from set-pieces. A couple of dangerous shots, too, but he was mostly shut down from open play by Maatsen.
Mikel Merino: 45%
Barely got into the game, with just 17 touches of the ball and only one of those coming in the opposition box. No surprise that he was brought off at half-time.
Eberechi Eze: 55%
Just 13 touches of the ball, with no shots attempted or chances created. Lost Cash at the back post on the opening goal. Like Merino, was brought off at half-time.
Viktor Gyokeres: 42%
Didn’t see too much of the ball, but his positioning and centre-forward presence made a huge difference for Arsenal, occupying the Villa defenders where they’d had an easier time against Merino.
Leandro Trossard: 64%
Was only on the pitch for 40 minutes, coming off in the 86th minute after coming on at half-time, but made his presence felt with the equaliser, as well as a couple more dangerous shots.