At the Emirates Stadium in North London, Mikel Arteta’s face hinted what is the meaning of embarrassment is! They were outclassed, out-thought, and out-smarted by an Aston Villa unit who were vibrant and taught Arteta a lesson, how to exhibit attacking football on the pitch with aggressive intent. Villa ran riot and handed Arsenal disgrace.
Leading 1-0 at half-time through a Bukayo Saka own goal, the visitors ran riot after the interval and could easily have won by far more than just 3-0.
Arsenal had no answer to Jack Grealish, John McGinn, Ross Barkley, and Ollie Watkins, with Villa’s attacking quartet pulling the Arsenal defence apart at will with their pace and movement.
Watkins scored two excellent goals and only some last-ditch defending from Rob Holding and Dani Ceballos prevented Arteta’s side from falling to an even more humbling defeat.
Villa were thoroughly cut apart by Leeds United two weeks ago and also lost to Southampton despite a remarkable attempt at a second-half comeback.
Surely, Arsenal were expected to exploit the most.
But it was a night to forget!
Villa worked incredibly hard from the start to pressurize Arsenal and never allowed them to set foot on the paddle. When the Gunners attempted to play from the back, the likes of Grealish and Ollie Watkins were harrying them.
And Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang never really offered a threat thanks to the constant effort of both Matty Cash and Trezeguet, who tracked back tremendously.
Despite having more possession, the Gunners simply couldn’t create any true chances on goal.
In July, Arsenal failed to register a single shot on target. Tonight was a slight improvement on that, but they still only managed two attempts.
Arsenal completely lack any kind of creativity in midfield and is crying out for the kind of spark that a Ross Barkley or Jack Grealish could add. When it became apparent that Mesut Ozil would not feature anymore, signing a creative player should surely have been Arsenal’s priority in the transfer window.
Meanwhile, Willian has not had an assist since his debut at Fulham on the opening day of the season and is still searching for his first Arsenal goal, while Lacazette has not netted since the defeat at Liverpool on September 28.
In his time on the pitch, Lacazette touched the ball 15 times and managed just nine passes, two of which were in the Villa half.
It was an abject performance from Lacazette and one that was matched by Willian, whose error led to Villa’s opening goal and who continues to look lost after a bright start.
Aubameyang being left totally isolated out on the left-wing and the defensive solidity and compactness along with creativity in the midfield, totally outweighed the Gunners.
The sluggishness of the Gunners is evident and if it continues to show up consistently, Arsenal would find it tough to feature in the top four.
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