The Premier League title race is blown wide open again as Aston Villa beat Arsenal at Villa Park to cut the Gunners’ lead at the top of the table to 2 points after Manchester City dispatched Sunderland.
Unai Emery’s men have come a long way from a team that could not score for the first 5 matches of the season to a team now 3 points off the top of the Premier League table.
Aston Villa came from behind to beat Brighton in midweek, but the Villans stayed on top from the go against the league leaders today. Villa pinned Arsenal for large periods of the first half, and they duly earned a Matty Cash goal in the 36th minute.
Arsenal responded strongly after the break, and Leandro Trossard equalized just 8 minutes after the restart. However, Villa remained composed as they refused to let the league leaders dominate them. Unai Emery brought on Emiliano Buendia in the 87th minute, and the Argentine scored the winner in the 94th minute to claim all 3 points for Aston Villa.
Manchester City rightly capitalized on Arsenal’s slump to close the gap on the league leaders to two points. City put 3 past Sunderland, as Phil Foden also continued his brilliant form. City took the lead through a scorcher from Rúben Dias, and minutes later, the Citizens doubled their lead through Josko Gvardiol.
Phil Foden headed in City’s third in the second half after brilliant work from Rayan Cherki. This win for City puts them as direct rivals for Arsenal this season, with Villa just one point behind.
Villa now sit 5 points clear of Chelsea as the Blues failed to win away at Bournemouth.
