Arsenal showed determination to come from behind and win 4-2 in a scintillating battle against Aston Villa with their Premier League (PL) title hopes on the line.
The Gunners were facing a former manager Unai Emery for the first time and in desperate needed a postive result after suffering defeat against Manchester City and they got off to the worst possible start.
Matty Cash dispossessed Oleksandr Zinchenko and picked out Ollie Watkins, who beat William Saliba and struck across Aaron Ramsdale for his fourth goal in as many games.
Mikel Arteta’s side responded well and equalised on the quarter-hour mark, when Tyrone Mings’ awkward attempt at clearing Ben White’s cross fell to Bukayo Saka, who capitalised to hit an unstoppable thunderbolt past Emiliano Martínez for his 10th goal in all competitions this season.
However, Villa took the lead again just after the half-hour mark, as Emiliano Buendía showed superb awareness with a zero-touch from Álex Moreno’s low cross, and Philippe Coutinho did the rest as he fooled Ramsdale with a reverse finish to mark his first PL start under Emery with a goal.
Arsenal looked determined than ever to take something back down south, and eventually got their reward on the hour mark when a short corner routine ended with a pinpoint finish from Zinchenko for the Ukraine international’s first Gunners goal.
Norwegian then missed a glorious opportunity, dragging his shot wide after Nketiah had dispossessed Ezri Konsa and teed him up.
Jorginho’s ambitious effort in the 93rd stoppage time struck the crossbar, hit Martínez’s head and trickled into the back of the net. Gabriel Martinelli then rounded off the scoring as the Gunners ended their four-game winless streak and reclaimed top spot.