Aston Villa 0 – Arsenal 1: tough win

I’ll tell you what, I did not miss watching Arsenal grind out 1-0 wins. At least we’re back to the 1-0’s from last fall when we were tracking whether the Gunners would concede a shot on target. They didn’t tonight, by the way. Aston Villa didn’t manage one against Brighton in their opener, either. Not the best start for Unai Emery’s lads, he writes with the hint of a smirk.

For those of you concerned that Arsenal didn’t look as silky smooth as they did against Coventry City, take comfort in the fact that it was Aston Villa away. The seven other sides in the top eight last season lost at Villa Park. Arsenal just won and held the home side without a shot on target. It’s a tough place to play and should be even tougher for the other top clubs in the Premier League because Unai Emery will have more players available for selection.

Villa did play with some of their usual qualities, particularly those of the pesky mosquito you can’t quite swat away. The fouls ended up Aston Villa 17, Arsenal 6, but until the 80th minute with Villa 1-0 down and chasing, the yellow cards were 1-0 to Arsenal. They ended up 3-1. Ian Maatsen was (finally) booked for cleaning out Bukayo Saka, the fourth or fifth foul the fullback had committed against the Arsenal winger. And John McGinn was booked for a nasty challenge from behind on Mikel Merino that, in my estimation, flirted with straight red territory. That violence is precisely what you get when a side goes most of the match without being cautioned for multiple physical challenges from behind.

Speaking of John McGinn, he accomplished the impressive feat of completely obliterating whatever respect I might have had for him over the course of a 90 minute match. My general feeling coming into today was vaguely positive — he was an industrious player who was making the absolute most of his talent. Today, he was a whining, diving, dirty pest of a player, more focused on trying to get Christos Tzolis a second yellow, complaining about every decision that went against his side, and generally flopping around to win fouls.

I really didn’t care for the Aston Villa home support loudly singing McGinn’s song after he’d been booked for his dangerous tackle on Merino. Then again, it’s par for the course for a bunch that sang “same old Arsenal, always cheating” after the referee properly called a foul that happened just outside the box, incorrectly awarded a penalty, and was overturned by VAR. Football supporters can be really dumb when tribal herd mentality kicks in.

It felt particularly good that Arsenal went 1-0 up just a few minutes after that. Ebere Eze slipped a pass for Riccardo Calafiori, who Go-Go Gadget-ed his leg around Victor Lindelof to get the ball across the face of goal. Bukayo Saka beat Ian Maatsen to the spot to touch it home. Zion Suzuki, who had a solid game otherwise for Aston Villa in net particularly his distribution, really got caught in No Man’s Land. A good attacking move will often do that to a keeper. And it was a lovely one from the Gunners.

Bukayo Saka celebrated his goal by running over to the Arsenal supporters section and pointing at the Champions badge. His defiance in the face of constant hard fouls and inexplicable booing (the Villa fans, like so many others across the league, were booing him for no apparent reason) is magnificent. Keep shutting ‘em up, B.

Arsenal were not particularly sharp on the evening, at least some of which is down to Villa’s organization and combative play. Martin Ødegaard and Ben White couldn’t seem to get on the same page. Kai Havertz had a couple bad giveaways. The passing and control was generally looser than you’d like to see.

Bringing on Mikel Merino, Bruno Guimaraes, and Martin Zubimendi to see out the game was just what the doctor ordered. The fresh legs and technical security helped shore things up and lock them down right when the game seemed to be teetering just a bit on turning to chaos. The Spaniards were so calm and composed on the ball. The Brazilian, even at 1-0 up, was constantly looking to thread a dangerous through ball to put someone in.

Bruno put Havertz through on goal, but the German had strayed offside. He struggled a bit with Villa’s high line all match. The Brazilian had a late chance too, but opted not to shoot as Ian Maatsen flew in from behind in the box. Like literally flew in. He launched himself into the air, both legs off the ground. It was a weird sequence because I’m not sure how much contact he ultimately made with Bruno (but the flying challenge was bad enough on it’s own). It looked like enough for a penalty but it wasn’t given on the field nor on review. He’s going to be an excellent addition to the attacking options, particularly if Mikel Arteta deploys him with players willing to run in behind and / or his teammates figure out that if they make those runs, Bruno will find them.

Mikel Arteta also smartly swapped Ebere Eze for Christos Tzolis at halftime. It wasn’t working for the Greek winger — he had picked up a booking and Villa were trying to get him sent off with a second. I’ll point you back to the various ways John McGinn embarrassed himself today. He went to ground under minimal contact from Tzolis (who was having his shirt pulled, I’d add), ran up the field complaining to the referee, ran back down the field still whining, and went over to speak with him after the whistle.

I can easily forgive Tzolis for the card. Not only was it a soft call and more a dive from Matty Cash, it’s tough to expect a player who been hauled down from behind up around the shoulders / neck to earlier in the half without a foul being given to anticipate that even less contact on an opponent would be treated differently. Speaking of Matty Cash, the fullback got a free lick on Tzolis before the first half was done. Completely cleaned him out with a late challenge.

Nasty side, Aston Villa. It feels like Unai Emery has a perpetual axe to grind against his former employer.

Unfortunately, Arsenal did not escape unscathed. Cristhian Mosquera went down rubbing his left hamstring midway through the second half. Good thing the Gunners bought Ezri Konsa. My reptilian brain enjoyed the Arsenal traveling support singing “Ezri Konsa, he left ‘cause you’re shit” at the Villa fans.

You can’t really complain about two wins from two, especially when you win away at a Champions League side. The Gunners have another test next weekend with high-scoring Chelsea visiting the Emirates.

The 2026/27 begins as the title holders host the newly promoted Sky Blues

The Gunners close in on much-needed cover.

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