Arsenal dropped points in the title race after a painful draw seeing a two-goal lead slip at the end.
Arsenal took the lead in the first half through Gabriel Martinelli. Leandro Trossard was found by Mikel Merino before final third before a reverse cross that the Brazilian’s touch just managed to beat Emi Martinez to the delight of supporters.
The Belgian turned creator for a second time early in the second half, finding the perfect cross for Kai Havertz who volleyed in to delight the Arsenal crowd. However Villa would score two quickfire goals through a Youri Tielemans header and then Ollie Watkins meeting a back post Matty Cash cross.
Arsenal thought they had won it when Mikel Merino’s shot went in but the replays showed it hit Havertz’s arm on the way through and VAR disallowed it.
David Raya – Made a good save early in the game from Ian Maatsen. The goals conceded against Tielemans and Watkins however he was beaten and could do very little to stop each strike. 6
Thomas Partey – Playing at right-back has never been a position that any Arsenal fan has enjoyed and again he had a frustrating display. A throw-in nearly gifted Watkins a chance and he was slow in coming out to stop Lucas Digne’s cross for the Merino own goal. Then he lost Watkins for the second goal, leaving him free at the back post to finish past Raya. 5
Jurrien Timber – Playing centrally in the absence of William Saliba, Timber has played just a handful of times for Arsenal in the role he became very familiar with at Ajax. 7
Gabriel Magalhaes – Even without his usual centre-half partner Gabriel continued his dominant streak. First with an excellent tackle on Ollie Watkins in a one-on-one situation before repeating the feat several minutes later. He was a nuisance from the set pieces and found two headers to try to find teammates but sadly couldn’t quite make the target. 8
Myles Lewis-Skelly – Each week I find myself having to come up with new words to describe just how impressed I am with the teenage sensation – again his strength and technical ability, and in the first half he performed a perfect lunging tackle to the delight of the home crowd while also producing a great chance in the second that sadly no one in the box gambled on. 8
Mikel Merino – After what was a much more positive first half, where he found Leandro Trossard in the build-up for the opening goal, he sadly was not able to stop Youri Tielemans from scoring the Villa first.. After trying to reach the Lucas Digne cross, a touch took the ball past David Raya. He thought he’s won the game at the end but saw his goal chalked off for offside, then hit the post in added time. 7
Declan Rice – Another imperious performance in the middle of the park from the Arsenal midfielder. His corner kicks were again incomparable as he picked out the back post time after time. 8
Martin Odegaard – Involved in so much once again, but not particularly having the biggest impact on the main chances in the game. 6
Gabriel Martinelli – Arguably his best performance of the season in an Arsenal shirt as he scored the opening goal, making Ian Maatsen have an absolute nightmare. Darting inside to snab in and beat Emi Martinez. 8
Leandro Trossard – The ball for Gabriel Martinelli was just perfect and the Belgian too, like his opposite side teammate was having a very good game. Great passes throughout, one to Myles Lewis-Skelly standing out in particular. 8
Kai Havertz – He definitely needed that goal, more than anyone else in the team. A great volley to finish off the chance created by Trossard early in the second period. However it was his handball that prevented Mikel Merino’s strike from counting right at the end. 7
