Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins after scoring the equalizer in Saturday’s 2-2 Premier League match, completed his team’s comeback and once again proved to be a pain in Arsenal’s side.
Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz both scored close-range goals just before halftime, allowing Arsenal to erase the memories of their home loss to Villa last season, their last league loss at the emirates.

Arsenal would have fallen four points behind leaders Liverpool if they had won, but Villa came alive when Youri Tielemans gave them a lifeline on the hour, and eight minutes later Watkins volleyed in a cross from Matty Cash to tie the score.
Mikel Merino’s attempt rebounded off Havertz into the net, giving Arsenal the victory in what would have ensured that they close the gap to table toppers Liverpool, but it was disallowed for handball.

Arsenal has 44 points to Liverpool’s 50 after playing one extra game. Villa moved to sixth place.
In April, England striker Watkins scored a superb goal to cement a 2-0 Villa win, which ultimately proved deadly for Arsenal’s ambitions of chasing Manchester City in the title battle.

His Saturday goal might be just as detrimental to Arsenal’s pursuit of Liverpool.
Arsenal will argue that Merino’s volley bounced down and in via Havertz’s arm in stoppage time, giving them the victory, but they are solely responsible for letting two valuable points elude them.
The atmosphere at The Emirates before the game was somewhat dampened by Liverpool’s victory at Brentford in stoppage time and the absence of important defender William Saliba.

Unai Emery villa came knowing that a rematch of their victory from the previous season would place them in fourth place, but Arsenal was intent on holding onto Liverpool’s lead.
Arsenal’s main driver, Leandro Trossard, produced both goals in essentially the same way.
He broke down the left and crossed for Martinelli to poke a shot that Villa keeper Emiliano Martínez could not quite save from going over the line in the 35th minute.

In the 55th minute, Havertz timed his run perfectly to guide an effort past Martinez after Trossard had smashed an effort just over the bar and then found space on the left to cross low into the area.
Although Villa did not start the second half quite brilliantly, Lucas Digne a replacement, crossed for Tielemans and put a diving header past David Raya to cut the deficit in half.
Tielemans’ shot hit the post and Arsenal was startled.

Villa could feel the tension in the stadium, and as Cash floated a beautiful cross into the area, Watkins, who was hiding nearby, volleyed the ball high into the net before wheeling away to celebrate in front of the ecstatic fans of the visitors.
When Trossard’s shot scraped the post in stoppage time, the home team came very close to winning it after VAR rejected Arsenal’s attempt.