Aston Villa stun Arsenal with 2-0 victory at Emirates Stadium

National World - LocalTV

Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden's reaction as Aston Villa upset the Premier League title race and boost their Champions League hopes with a remarkable 2-0 win away at Arsenal.

Transcript

00:00 Aston Villa have just pulled off one of the results of the season. Not only just for them as a club, but in the Premier League as a whole.

00:08 Arsenal nil, Aston Villa two. Wow, 33 games in now for Villa, 32 for many of the other clubs in the Premier League.

00:16 And it's now three points the gap to Tottenham Hotspur. Villa well into the top four now, a very unexpected win here at the Emirates Stadium.

00:23 Such a tough place to go. And Unai Emery now the first manager in the Premier League this season to deny Arsenal a goal in both fixtures played.

00:31 Of course it's a 1-0 win at Villa Park in December. That was the same week that Villa beat Manchester City 1-0 as well.

00:38 And they're definitely having their say once again in the title fight.

00:42 Liverpool lost against Crystal Palace at Anfield today as well.

00:46 Manchester City of course beating Luton Town by five goals to one at the Etihad.

00:50 Pep Guardiola will be licking his lips as the citizens look like they could be marching on for another Premier League title.

00:56 Of course there's still time for there to be more twists and turns in this Premier League title fight.

01:01 But the result this weekend are Massive and Villa playing their part as I say.

01:05 The first half, Arsenal were the better team. They created lots of opportunities for Pekkaio Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus.

01:12 But between the likes of Diego Carlos tracking back and making interventions, and Emilio Martínez making some amazing saves,

01:19 including one actually from point-blank range to deny Leandro Trossard, Villa were able to go into half-time 0-0.

01:27 And then in the second period, although Unai Emery claims there weren't any changes tactically, Villa were on top.

01:34 It did take a little while. The first half started a little bit slowly.

01:39 Villa kind of dominated possession for about 65th minute or so I'd say.

01:44 A few substitutions for Arsenal, rocking their momentum a little bit. Villa taking advantage, creating some opportunities.

01:51 Yuri Tieleman hit the crossbar with an amazing effort from outside the box.

01:56 He dispossessed Oleksandr Zinchenko and then, potentially just inside actually, but a wide angle, smashed the crossbar, reverberated,

02:04 bounced out in off the post as well, it was that close.

02:07 Oli Watkins in the first half I forgot to mention, also hit the post on the break for Villa's only opportunity.

02:13 So close off the inside of the post. On another day, or if it hit a different bobble, it would have gone in.

02:20 But as I say, after Tieleman's one, it was all Villa and two fantastic goals.

02:25 The first one, I'd say fantastic, maybe not the finish itself.

02:29 Bailly had an open goal, albeit from a tight angle, but the play beforehand was very impressive.

02:34 Luka Dean getting into an advanced position, Pau Torres getting across the Arsenal centre-back, I believe Gabriel or Saliba,

02:41 and also David Rye couldn't get anywhere near.

02:44 That from Pau Torres was crucial to get to Bailly at the far post and then to round it off three minutes later, in the 87th minute,

02:51 Oli Watkins ran onto a Yuri Tieleman through ball and dinked it over Rye to make sure of the points.

02:57 The Villa away end understandably going wild.

03:00 What a huge three points this is, not only for Villa, but for the Premier League as a whole.

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