Arsenal were well-beaten by Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium as Unai Emery completed a double of Mikel Arteta to leave the club’s title hopes hanging by a thread. Goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins were the difference despite a good first-half Gunners display that fell away dramatically in the second period.
Villa and Emery both together and apart have been a thorn in the side of Arteta throughout his tenure with the club. They’ve won five of the nine meetings between the two since Arteta took over.
Ollie Watkins has five goals in those nine games, and continues to break plenty of records as a Villa player. The England international spoke to football.london after the win and was asked what it was about Villa that makes them so successful against the Gunners.
“I feel like we frustrate them,” he explained. “We are on the front foot.
“We have a game plan. We stick to it. Sometimes it all works, sometimes it may not. But we definitely frustrate them. For sure.”
He’s absolutely right and former Arsenal goalkeeper Emi Martinez buys right into that. Booed throughout the game, at full-time he went up to the away fans for several fist pumps showcasing his delight at another win over his former side.
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But perhaps the insight of Unai Emery from his time in North London has been the difference. With any of his clubs he’s lost just once to Arsenal and it seems he knows how to undermine their strengths and ride his luck too with the chances the home side created on the day.
Asked what it is about Emery and Arsenal that helps create this successful record against the Gunners. Interestingly, Watkins revealed something unique that Villa did in preparation for the clash.
“We have a lot of meetings,” he said. “We had three today. To drill in what we need to do.
“But everyone knows what we need to do going into the pitch today. We frustrated them.
“I could see they were getting a little bit tired. Even though we played Thursday night I feel like we had the legs on them.”
The load is certainly coming in for some scrutiny on Arsenal as they now fly out to Germany to face Bayern Munich on Wednesday. Can Mikel Arteta find a way to rally his side, find a second wind in the season and progress to the tournament’s semi-final stage?
