ARSENAL suffered a heavily damaging defeat in their hopes of a first Premier League title in 20 years as they lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa.
Ollie Watkins came within an inch of putting the visitors in front when his strike hit the inside of the post and spun wide shortly before half-time.
Arsenal suffered their first Premier League defeat of 2024Reuters
It is a huge blow to their hopes of winning the Premier League titleAP
Seconds later, ex-Arsenal keeper Emi Martinez brilliantly denied Leandro Trossard from close range with a sprawling save to keep the scores level.
Villa eventually did break the deadlock in the 84th minute when Leon Bailey turned home Lucas Digne’s cross.
And Watkins made sure of the win moments later as he raced through before dinking superbly over David Raya to boost their top four hopes and deal Arsenal a huge blow in the title race.
Here is how SunSport’s Jordan Davies saw the performances of the Arsenal players.
David Raya – 6
No shots to concern himself with in the first half, aside from Watkins smacking his right post before agonisingly dribbling back across his goal mouth.
The Spaniard also had no chance of stopping Youri Tielemans’ stunning strike that hit the woodwork twice before being cleared, as well as both late goals.
Ben White – 7
A necessary yellow card to deny Villa a counter attack his only blip in another solid display.
Will be vital to their season run-in.
Gabriel – 6
Did well to recover on a few occasions but then almost cost his side with a poor ball that struck Oleksandr Zinchenko on the back and put in Watkins to strike Raya’s post.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
Was then caught in a tangle in the box before Bailey struck late on.
Errors are beginning to creep back into his game at a time when Arsenal do not need any nerviness at the back.
William Saliba – 8
Solid as a rock and getting even more confident with ball at feet and moving up the pitch.
Kept Watkins very quiet. Couldn’t really blame him for Villa’s goals.
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 5
Oleksandr Zinchenko struggled against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoonGetty
A few nice passes inside but he is still a liability in defence.
Zinchenko gave away the ball on the edge of his own box as Tielemans rattled the bar and the base of the post with a shot.
Got turned far too easily and far too often.
Looked like he was running through custard at times.
Declan Rice – 7
He may not be grabbing as many headlines for Arsenal at this stage of the season but his influence is still there for all to see.
Just lacked that killer pass.
Martin Odegaard – 8
Martin Odegaard was still incredibly influential despite playing in a deeper roleEPA
Playing much deeper than usual but continued orchestrating with great effect.
Odegaard should have had a few assists to his name in the first half alone.
Looked fatigued in the closing stages – no surprise that he was subbed with the trip to Munich in a few days.
Kai Havertz – 6
Back in his midfield role and got forward plenty early on, denied by Martinez from a tight angle having darted into the box and fluffed numerous one v ones.
Bukayo Saka – 6
Limped his way through the first period after yet another bruising half of football, but remained lively and curled one just wide in the 41st minute.
Barely got a sniff in the second half, such was Villa’s impressive defensive shape.
Gabriel Jesus – 6
Simply had to put Arsenal ahead in the 17th minute with a back post header prodded into the side netting, but his energy dragged Arsenal through a tough opening 45 minutes.
Fed off scraps after the break.
Leandro Trossard – 6
One of the misses of the season just before the break inside the six-yard box. Brilliant save from Martinez, but anywhere else and it hits the back of the net.
Always seems to be at his best coming off the bench in games like this.
As a starter, he drifts in and out of the action far too much.
Takehiro Tomiyasu (for White, 66 mins) – 6
Unsure why White was taken off, as he rarely misses a minute, and Tomiyasu was fairly anonymous.
Gabriel Martinelli (for Trossard, 66 mins) – 6
Provided some zip that Trossard had been missing but Arsenal’s lack of creativity made it almost impossible for him to conjure anything up.
Emile Smith Rowe (for Odegaard, 78 mins) – 6
His only involvement was chasing Watkins back before watching the ball hit the back of the net.
Jorginho (for Jesus, 78 mins) – 6
Tried to be positive on the ball but was largely wasteful and inaccurate.
Eddie Nketiah (for Zinchenko, 87 mins) – N/A
Unused subs: Ramsdale, Partey, Kiwior, Vieira.