Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa: Premier League – reaction!

Speaking of the great Nick Ames, he has written a match report from an actual football ground on a Friday night when he could have been out having fun. Here it is.

Thanks for joining me, I am off to enjoy four minutes of peace.

86 mins: Douglas Luiz throws the ball down and is booked for his petulance. Silly Dougy.

84 mins: Cash flings in a another long throw, it goes over Mings and then Gabriel leaves it, allowing Watkins to attack the ball but he cannot get a touch, when the slightest one would have meant an almost certain goal.

It’s a first senior goal for Ramsey as he takes the ball off Bailey’s feet to curl a shot into the top corner from the edge of the area. Game on?

80 mins: Odegaard decides to shoot from a free-kick 30 yards from goal despite the angle being against him. The Norwegian hits the ball well but it’s straight at Martinez.

78 mins: Villa lift the ball into the box, Mings attacks the ball but White beats him to it and heads the cross clear.

Ings off, El Ghazi. I am not sure it counts as a throw of the dice at this stage.

76 mins: Villa are giving it a decent go without creating any decent chances.

74 mins: Saka swings in a corner from the right, Partey wins the header but only succeeds in flicking it wide.

Maitland-Niles replaces Lokonga.

72 mins: Aubameyang tries to curl the ball into the top corner but Martinez reads the shot and dives to his left, getting a big hand on it.

Aden emails: “This is maybe not the best I’ve seen Arsenal play under Arteta (I’ll reserve that for the bonkers FA Cup run), but it’s certainly by far the most dominant. Can’t remember a game we’ve had under him where we’ve been so clearly better than the opposition for 70 mins. Knock on wood it isn’t wrecked!”

Aston Villa’s first half formation helped Arsenal dominate but it’s been a fine display overall, that’s for sure.

70 mins: Cash flings in a long throw, Konsa wins the header but it goes straight up in the air and Ramsdale comes to claim it after a couple of bounces.

68 mins: Villa also make a change with Ramsey coming on for Buendia.

66 mins: Lokonga finds space on the left and drives in a low cross into the corridor of uncertainty but Mings reads it and clears.

Lacazette’s race seems to be run. He is sat on the floor holding his feet. Odegaard looks to be the man ready to come on.

64 mins: Arsenal are putting in a full team performance here, showing that they are playing for one enough.

62 mins: Buendia finds space between the defenders to collect a pass from Targett, he takes a touch and shoots for goal but Ramsdale is there to deflect the ball wide.

60 mins: Watkins tries to liven things up again for Villa but his drive from the edge of the box is blocked by a lunging White.

Targett, who is probably quite frustrated now, goes into the book for a cynical foul on Saka near the halfway line.

58 mins: That’s a shame for Villa as they looked quite bright in the opening stages of this half but the game is surely done and dusted now.

The Arsenal midfielder has been fantastic all night and gets his reward. He intercepts a pass 20 yards from his own goal and sets off on a run up the pitch. He picks up a lovely chip through from Aubameyang and shoots for goal, watching the ball go in off the post via Mings’ boot.

55 mins: The game is definitely more open now, which is good news for the teams and the viewers.

53 mins: Lokonga drives through the heart of the Villa midfield, before slipping a pass through to Saka but his shot is blocked. The ball eventually comes back to Lokonga who swings a left-footed shot from the edge of the area straight at Martinez.

51 mins: Buendia and Watkins combine well in the box, allowing the Argentinian to pull the ball back to Ings who gets a shot off but White is there to block it. Villa look a lot sharper already. Maybe they should have made the changes earlier …

49 mins: Ings throws himself to the ground in the box, claiming he has been pulled down by Gabriel but there is nothing it it. Arsenal break down the other end and win a corner after Lokonga’s shot is deflected wide but the attack ends with Saka pinging the ball over from 25 yards.

47 mins: Villa make a change at the break with Bailey on for Tuanzebe. They really needed to do something. It seems they are now operating in a 4-3-3 formation with Watkins on the left and Bailey on the right.

It almost has an instant impact as the ball is flung over the top for Watkins to latch onto, he has Ings in the middle but decides to shoot, testing Ramsdale who turns it behind for a corner which comes to nothing.

“At last, Arteta has stumbled on the secret of winning football games – come across a team who, for some very mysterious reason, decide to play extremely badly,” writes Charles Antaki. “It certainly worked against Tottenham, and against Villa – well, so far so good. With a bit of luck, the 20 next games will also feature unaccountably rubbish opposition and all will be well.”

“Have you noticed that 99.9% of the time refs are called to VAR they change their decision?” asks Phillip Haran. “If he strongly believes his decision he refuses to go and look and generally they are the more dodgy decisions. Targett definitely played the ball but through the player so maybe, in this case, justice was done.”

Yes, it is almost a guarantee. I guess they put their faith in the video referees who have more time to see it.

Zach Neeley emails: “Arsenal had four shots on goal to Villa’s 0 on anywhere, earned a penalty, hit the post, and are lucky to be up 2-0?”

I mean lucky in the sense they scored their second in the 51st minute of the first half when only two minutes were added on.

Smith Rowe has been great on the left with Tavares also looking great down the left. The combination is allowing the Portuguese full-back to run into space vacated by Smith Rowe who keeps cutting inside to cause havoc.

“The Villa players should pro rate their salary and donate the amount to charity,” emails Mary Waltz. “That was a sorry display of football.”

“As much as I want us to win, and I really, REALLY do, that was a really harsh decision,” says Karen Bridgen. It was a penalty, I am afraid.

Arsenal should be out of sight but are, in fact, very lucky to have a two-goal lead. Football is a funny. Aston Villa have been ruddy awful, though.

The Arsenal skipper sees his penalty saved by Martinez diving to the right but he reacts quickly to tap the rebound into the almost empty net.

45+5 mins: The half-time whistle blows and then the referee is sent to look at the VAR screen to decide if Targett going through the back of Lacazette in the box is a penalty. The defender makes contact with the striker before the ball and Pawson returns to the pitch to point at the spot.

43 mins: Buendia sends in a dangerous cross for the Villa strikers to attack but Ramsdale reads it and takes a simple catch.

41 mins: Obviously, it should be said that despite bringing nothing to this game, Villa are only a goal behind. Arsenal have had 11 shots to Villa’s big fat zero.

39 mins: Dean Smith has been speaking to Craig Shakespeare on the touchline for the entire match but has still seen fit to change nothing thus far. Bring back John Terry.

Norrie Hernon emails: “Arsenal often look better – and better connected – with Lacazette, but we’re reliant on Auba for goals as Laca and the midfield don’t score enough. Arteta has never looked like he knows the answer to this.”