Ollie Watkins completes comeback as Aston Villa dent Arsenal’s title bid
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As Mikel Arteta knows only too well, it can only take the finest of margins to settle a Premier League title race. With his side leading 2-0 against Aston Villa thanks to goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz, the Arsenal manager must have felt they were within touching distance of a cathartic victory.
![[Emiliano Martínez fails to stop Gabriel Martinelli’s effort cross the line.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a583320cb47012825f493f0b728eda52b8b61e2f/0_124_4736_2841/master/4736.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
But having seen leaders Liverpool seal a dramatic late victory over Brentford earlier in the afternoon, once again Unai Emery had other plans against his former club. Arteta could only watch on in horror as Youri Tielemans pulled one back before Ollie Watkins volleyed home the equaliser. Even when it seemed Arsenal might have won it late on through Mikel Merino, their joy was short-lived as VAR ruled Havertz had diverted the Spaniard’s effort with his arm to ensure this was another two points dropped in their pursuit of Liverpool.
On an afternoon when Darwin Núñez had shown the importance of having a deep squad with his crucial late interventions for Arne Slot’s side in west London, it was striking to compare the two substitute benches. While the only attacking option the hosts could call on was an out-of-sorts Raheem Sterling, Emery was able to include £22m forward Donyell Malen – who began his career in Arsenal’s academy – alongside Jhon Durán, Emi Buendía and Leon Bailey.
The absence of William Saliba for only the second Premier League game this season after he tweaked his hamstring in the north London derby win over Spurs in midweek further stretched Arsenal’s resources, with Jurriën Timber slotting into central defence as Merino and Martinelli returned. But perhaps given extra motivation by memories of the 2-0 defeat to Villa here back in April that proved terminal to last season’s title challenge, Arsenal made their intentions clear in the first 10 minutes.
