‘Fortunate’ – Ian Wright says Arsenal star ‘got away with one’ after Aston Villa win

Ian Wright believes that Mikel Merino can count himself lucky to have not been sent off during Arsenal’s emphatic 4-1 victory over Aston Villa.

A superb second-half display from the Gunners saw them dismantle one of their title rivals and move five points clear at the top of the Premier League to end the year.

Gabriel, back in for his first start since November, bundled home a goal from a corner before Martin Zubimendi’s neat finish doubled the lead four minutes later.

Goals from Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus made sure of the result before Ollie Watkins’ injury-time consolation strike for the visitors, who saw their eight-match winning streak in the league come to a grinding halt.

Villa, and in particular goalkeeper Emi Martinez, had some protestations about Arsenal’s opening goal, and they certainly had reason to feel aggrieved when Merino escaped a second booking midway through the second half.

The Spaniard, booked in first-half added time, grabbed Morgan Rogers back by the arm and hauled the Villa midfielder to the ground, but was shown mercy by referee Darren England before being hauled off ten minutes later.

VAR is currently unable to review potential second yellow card offences, but Wright believes Merino was still fortunate to escape a second yellow, which could have swung the game’s momentum in Villa’s favour.

‘He’s very fortunate because I think he should have (been sent off),’ the former Arsenal striker told Premier League Productions post-match.

‘I don’t know it works (with VAR) but he knows what he’s doing, he’s grabbed his arm and he knows. We’ve got the capability of seeing that.

‘It was 2-0 at that stage; if Arsenal go down to ten men, it could have had a massive impact on the game.

‘That’s down to the officials to see that and get that right. Mikel Merino has gotten away with one there because by my account that is two yellows.’

Wright, though, was also keen to praise Arsenal’s clinical finishing on the night, which has not been a staple of the Gunners’ performances in recent weeks.

‘It’s a massive statement, and it’s even more of a statement to Villa to let them see the levels that you have to get to,’ he said. ‘I think Villa will have learnt a lot from that.

‘I wasn’t expecting it to be 4-1, especially with the way that Villa have been playing, but Arsenal are in a good frame of mind.

‘They haven’t been scoring as many goals as they should have but they have been making chances, and as long as you’re making chances, then it’s up to people to take them, and if you take them, then you are more comfortable in the game.

‘We’ve done that today and that’s why we were comfortable in the game.

‘Hopefully, going forward, we can do the same because I don’t want to be sitting here thinking it’s only going to be 1-0 and are they (the opponents) going to score like we’ve seen in previous games against Wolves.

‘So I would love to see them play like this on a weekly basis, but it doesn’t work like that, especially when you’re going for the league.’

Speaking after his side’s victory, a jubilant Arteta said: ‘They are really good, they are extremely well coached, very clear what they want to do, how they want to hurt you and they are very efficient at it.

‘So they can drive you into a game that is constantly a very thin line, and you have to navigate it.

‘It can be uncomfortable navigating through that and we did it in a difficult moment and then we took the opportunities in a great way.’

Arsenal will kick off 2026 with a visit to face Bournemouth as they look to make it five league wins in a row.

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