BIRMINGHAM — Arsenal finally beat their bogey team Aston Villa, as second half goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey led the Gunners to a 2-0 win at Villa Park.
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Unai Emery’s Villa and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal delivered yet another treat of a game as the floodlights twinkled underneath the clear blue sky at a raucous Villa Park.
At the final whistle it was Arteta and his players celebrating with the Arsenal supporters in the away end as the Gunners have seemingly taken a big step forward by finally breaking their Villa hoodoo.
Here’s a look at what we learned from a wild one at Villa Park.
Arsenal ride their luck, show resilience ahead of tough opening away stretch
Let’s not get away from it, Arsenal were let off the hook twice by Ollie Watkins and they made the most of it. In the first half Watkins missed a huge chance as he scuffed wide with the goal at his mercy. In the second half Onana’s shot hit the bar and the ball fell straight to Watkins as the Holte End expected to see the net ripple. But Watkins headed the ball in the only spot where David Raya could pull off a miraculous save and he did. Those chances either side of half time were crucial in the story of this game. When Arsenal’s big chances came they took them and ahead of their next two away games at Tottenham and Manchester City, winning away at Villa when they were under pressure for vast swathes of it, was a big step forward. Starting the season with Villa, Tottenham and Man City away will show us whether or not Arsenal have taken a big step forward towards winning the title. The early signs are good for the Gunners. This was a big statement.
Trossard proves his killer instincts off the bench
After putting Arsenal 1-0 up just two minutes after jumping off the bench, Leandro Trossard looked a bit miffed as he ran towards the jubilant away end. He had proved, once again, he can finish when Arsenal need him most. When hasn’t he? His big miss against Villa in the 2-0 defeat at the end of last season was perhaps the only time he has never finished clinically for Arsenal. In the end, Trossard made his trademark celebration with his eyes as he joined in the celebrations. But his initial reaction was a not-so-subtle message to Arteta: you can count on me. Start me on the left. It would be a shock if he didn’t start at Tottenham or Man City coming up.
Rogers the real deal in Bellingham role
The major positive for Aston Villa was the performance of 22-year-old Morgan Rogers in the attacking midfield role. His surging runs were at the heart of everything good Villa did. In the first half he gave Rice and Partey so many problems popping up in front of Arsenal’s back four. Graeme Le Saux on our broadcast didn’t quite compare him to Jude Bellingham’s level, yet, but said Rogers’ powerful, driving runs were reminiscent of the Real Madrid and England star. That was spot on and in Villa’s counter-attacking system Rogers will provide plenty of drive and allow Watkins to take up dream positions on the shoulder of the last defender. Villa have unearthed a star in the making who should be making his England debut very soon.