BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 18: Jorginho of Arsenal celebrates after scoring the team's third goal during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Arsenal FC at Villa Park on February 18, 2023 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal: 3 talking points as Gunners complete epic comeback
by Adam Schultz
Arsenal secured a 4-2 victory over Aston Villa in a vintage Premier League encounter. A poor first half saw the Gunners trail, but three second-half goals saw Arsenal complete an astonishing comeback.
Mikel Arteta made two changes from the side that lost 3-1 to Manchester City, with Ben White and Leandro Trossard coming in for Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Martinelli.
Villa took the lead five minutes in as Ollie Watkins pounced on a long ball, took a touch, drove into the box, and unleashed his shot across Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal wasn’t behind for long as Bukayo Saka brought his team level. After a poor clearance from Tyrone Mings that fell to Saka, the Englishman unleashed a vicious volley past Emi Martinez.
Villa were back in front thanks to Phillipe Coutinho. The Brazilian was on the end of a great move after a Buendia dummy, and the former Liverpool star took a touch and slotted past Ramsdale.
BIG. THREE. POINTS. pic.twitter.com/REx0sb1RpF
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 18, 2023
After sustained pressure in the second half, Arsenal drew level. A nicely worked corner routine found the Ukrainian, who hit his shot first time past Martinez to give the Gunners life.
The Gunners found the winner through Jorginho’s thunderous strike that was credited as a Martinez own goal. Just minutes later, with Villa chasing the game, Martinez came up for a corner, and Arsenal broke with devastating effect as Martinelli slotted into an empty net.
Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal: 3 talking points as Gunners complete epic comeback
Arsenal then held on for a mammoth three points to go top of the league. The game provided plenty of talking points, here they are.
1. Arsenal back on top of the league
With victory at Villa, Arsenal moved back to the top of the league table and extended their lead to two points with a game in hand after City were pegged back at Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.
Having seen top spot be relinquished after defeat to City last time out, Arsenal needed to dig deep and found a way to win what could prove to be a vital three points in the title race.
Continued on the next slide…
pic.twitter.com/REx0sb1RpF
<p>— Arsenal (@Arsenal) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1626952064298278913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>February 18, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>After sustained pressure in the second half, Arsenal drew level. A nicely worked corner routine found the Ukrainian, who hit his shot first time past Martinez to give the Gunners life.</p>
<p>The Gunners found the winner through Jorginho’s thunderous strike that was credited as a Martinez own goal. Just minutes later, with Villa chasing the game, Martinez came up for a corner, and Arsenal broke with devastating effect as Martinelli slotted into an empty net.</p>
<h2>Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal: 3 talking points as Gunners complete epic comeback</h2>
<p>Arsenal then held on for a mammoth three points to go top of the league. The game provided plenty of talking points, here they are.</p>
<h2>1. Arsenal back on top of the league</h2>
<p>With victory at Villa, Arsenal moved back to the top of the league table and extended their lead to two points with a game in hand after City were pegged back at Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.</p>
<p>Having seen top spot be relinquished after defeat to City last time out, Arsenal needed to dig deep and found a way to win what could prove to be a vital three points in the title race.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Talking Point #2 </a>
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<img decoding="async" class="wp-image-132391 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1467330126.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1467330126.jpeg 3200w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1467330126-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Jorginho had a major say in Arsenal’s win. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>2. Jorginho again impresses</h2>
<p>The Italian is stepping in superbly well for Thomas Partey and again produced a good performance against Villa. Cool and calm in possession, Jorginho was always available for a passing option out of the back.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">JORGINHO!!! Even he didn't believe it at first 😭<a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"https://t.co/ASL60TA3uY">https://t.co/ASL60TA3uY
<p>— Dr Yash (@YashRMFC) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"https://twitter.com/YashRMFC/status/1626951030897520641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>February 18, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>He kept things ticking over nicely, and in truth, officials should have awarded his strike as a goal to the midfielder – he’s never hit a ball so hard! It capped off a fine display and could have huge ramifications down the road.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Talking Point #3 </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-132394 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2084,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1467331883.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2084" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1467331883.jpeg 3200w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1467331883-768x500.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">This was Arsenal’s first win in a month. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>3. The perfect response after City defeat</h2>
<p>After losing to City last time out, Arsenal needed a response…they got it, albeit late. The first-half performance had many questioning whether the Gunners could turn it around and that the title charge might be stalling.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just look what it means! <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"https://t.co/74PDm3sgSU">pic.twitter.com/74PDm3sgSU
<p>— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/02/19/aston-villa-2-4-arsenal-talking-points/"https://twitter.com/charles_watts/status/1626955851930955787?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>February 18, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>But an inspired second half that saw three goals slammed home says otherwise. In a game where Arteta’s team needed to stand up and show they were up for the fight, they did so in the best way possible.</p>
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<p>It looked like a lost cause for most of the match, but as champions do, when you aren’t playing well, you just have to win, and they did that.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
