Aston Villa beat Arsenal 1-0 to spark unlikely Premier League title bid

LONDON – Aston Villa closed to within two points of the top of the Premier League as John McGinn’s goal beat title rivals Arsenal 1-0 on Dec 9 to end a “monumental week”.

Unai Emery’s men have now won 15 consecutive Premier League games at Villa Park, and back-to-back victories over Manchester City and the Gunners have sparked hopes of an unexpected challenge for their first top-flight title since 1981.

Not that the Spanish manager is buying that. He said: “I will speak again when we are in game 30 to 32, and if we are in the same position as now, then maybe I can speak about it. At the start, we are not a contender, it is only game 16. We are in (the top four) and must try to keep it.”

McGinn agreed, saying: “I’m banning the T-word. It’s game week 16, so there’s a long way to go. We respect everyone round about us who have been in this position for years. We’re newbies – if we can keep it up, we’ll see.”

The only goal came after just seven minutes, when Leon Bailey’s cross found Villa captain McGinn, who spun around and unleashed a left-footed shot into the far corner.

“What a monumental week it has been for us,” said the Scot.

“That was actually a really tough spell for us, we played Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday and I think it showed in our performance tonight, it wasn’t our best but I’m certainly not complaining.

“The second half was a bit of character, a bit of grit and fair play to the substitutes who’ve come on.”

Arsenal’s second league defeat of the season leaves Mikel Arteta’s men one point behind Liverpool, who went top on 37 points with a controversial 2-1 win at Crystal Palace earlier on Dec 9.

Arteta was forced to watch from the stands as he served a touchline ban and had to restrain himself after the game when asked about a couple of controversial incidents.

Arsenal thought they should have had a penalty in the second half when Gabriel Jesus went down under a challenge from Douglas Luiz.

And Kai Havertz had a late goal disallowed for handball.

“I do (have a) big opinion, yes. (But) I prefer not to comment,” said Arteta, before adding that the penalty shout was “even clearer” than the Havertz handball.

Pressed on the matter, Arteta simply said: “Clear and obvious. Clear and obvious. That’s what I mean. That’s my opinion. That’s all I can say.”

Victory was sweet for Emery, who was sacked by Arsenal four years ago.

The 52-year-old has made a remarkable impact at Villa, since his return to England over a year ago after leaving Villarreal.

“It was a tough week and now, after these three points, we have to be happy but also keep balance,” he said.

Arsenal were left to rue a number of big missed chances that raise fresh doubts over whether they can win a first Premier League title in 20 years without a natural goalscorer.

“We were the better team, we didn’t deserve to lose but this is football,” said Arteta.

“(Scoring is) the only thing we miss today. We created some really big chances.” AFP