Arsenal lost further ground on Liverpool in the title race, letting a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 with Aston Villa.
There were more injuries for Mikel Arteta to deal with before the game when William Saliba was ruled out with a muscular injury. Jurrien Timber covered at centre-back for the first time, with Thomas Partey moving to right-back.
Gabriel Martinelli gave Arsenal a deserved lead in the 35th minute and it looked like it would be an unusually comfortable evening when Kai Havertz doubled their lead 10 minutes after the break. However, Youri Tielemans pulled one back on the hour and eight minutes later, Ollie Watkins made it 2-2.
Arsenal briefly thought they had scored a late winner, but the VAR ruled it out for a Havertz handball, leaving Arsenal six points behind Arne Slot’s leaders, having played a game more.
Jordan Campbell and Liam Tharme break down the key talking points from the game.
Why was Arsenal’s late goal ruled out?
Havertz has been out of luck in recent weeks, missing glorious chances in the two cup exits against Newcastle United and Manchester United. He thought his fortunes had turned when he turned in Mikel Merino’s shot in the 90th minute to rescue the three points for Arsenal, but the VAR quickly overturned it for a handball.
In real-time, it looked like it had ricocheted off his hip to wrong-foot goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez but replays showed that it hit his arm (below). After exploding with joy, the Emirates was left dejected.
#ARSAVL – 88’ VAR OVERTURN
The Arsenal goal was awarded on-field. The VAR established that the ball hit Havertz’s arm immediately before entering the goal and recommended that the goal was disallowed.
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) January 18, 2025
This was another day when Arsenal looked cursed in front of goal. Leandro Trossard missed a glorious chance at the end of the game that reduced Arteta to his knees as Arsenal again failed to find a late winner.
There was a smattering of boos at full time before an eerie silence descended on the stadium.
Jordan Campbell
Arsenal’s lack of depth exposed
It only took one look at the team sheet before the match to feel that Arsenal would need to get the job done with the players starting the game.
Injuries to Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri have stripped Arteta of forwards but it was still staggering to see so few options. Raheem Sterling, who has failed to make an impact since joining on loan, was the only senior forward among the substitutes, with Ismeal Kabia, 19, and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, 22, filling the bench. There was not even an attacking midfielder to choose from, whereas Villa could have brought on Leon Bailey, Emiliano Buendia, Donyell Malen and Jhon Duran.
Even when Arsenal let their two-goal lead slip, Arteta resisted turning to his bench until Sterling came on for Martinelli with eight minutes remaining. Who can blame him?
Jorginho can help dictate play but he is not a game changer and the only other established senior players were Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Kieran Tierney, who had to come on at left wing to see out victory against Tottenham Hotspur.
The need for attacking reinforcements has never been illustrated more clearly.
Jordan Campbell
What now for the title race?
As Liverpool toiled to find a goal at Brentford, there was a sense that today could be the day the title race swung in Arsenal’s favour. That changed when Darwin Nunez scored a late double to put Liverpool seven points clear.
So the pressure was back on Arsenal to keep pace against an Aston Villa side that cost them the title last season, beating them home and away. Arsenal were unbeaten in their last 13 Premier League home games since that 2-0 defeat to Unai Emery’s side in April and unbeaten in the 11 league games since Martin Odegaard returned in October, but only wins can catch Liverpool.
One of Arsenal’s issues has been not killing games when they go ahead. Usually that has been when defending 1-0 leads — they have been pegged back at that scoreline five times this season — but when Havertz scored to make it 2-0 it looked like they had done enough
Watkins wheels away to celebrate his equaliser (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
However, Arsenal somehow lost control of the game and conceded twice in eight minutes to drop two more points. It was their eighth draw of the season in the Premier League. There have been red cards in other games but this result was of their own making.
Jordan Campbell
Lewis-Skelly shines again
Moving from academy to first-team level can take years, but Myles Lewis-Skelly looks to have done it in just a matter of matches. The 18-year-old, fresh off excelling in the north London derby, put in another strong performance with a particularly tough defensive task — keeping Morgan Rogers quiet.
The Villa No 10 has wreaked havoc on opposition midfields all season, and was the target of Martinez’s goal kicks against Arsenal. The focus was to go over the press, learning from Tottenham’s mistakes in midweek, and exploit Rogers’ aerial advantage over Lewis-Skelly. However, the teenager defended excellently, scrapping well against Rogers and winning some fouls when he picked up second balls, too.
(Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Winning six of his eight ground duels and completing 37 of 40 passes was another indication of Lewis-Skelly’s ability to play both parts of the game. He frequently popped up as a second No 6 next to Declan Rice, as well as playing high and wide too. He should have ended the game with an assist, after an excellent reverse pass in stoppage time put Trossard through on the angle, only for the Belgium international to shoot wide.
It was a disappointing day overall, but Hale End has another star.
Liam Tharme
What did Mikel Arteta say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Arsenal?
Wednesday, January 22: Dinamo Zagreb (H), Champions League, 8pm GMT, 3pm ET
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(TOp photo: Getty Images)
