Arsenal vs Aston Villa: Aubameyang helps 10-men Gunners to crucial win

Unai Emery’s men bagged three important points at home against a determined Aston Villa side. The Premier League game on Sunday, September 22, 2019, saw big-name summer signing Nicolas Pepe score for the Gunners for the first time with Callum Chambers and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang giving Arsenal a 3-2 win over Aston Villa. John McGinn and Wesley Moraes scored for the visitors on matchday six of the Premier League. 

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Arsenal vs Aston Villa: Red card, 0-1 down

Going into this game, Arsenal looked favourites for an easy home win against newly-promoted Aston Villa. With Alexandre Lacazette injured, 18-year-old Bukayo Saka started in the Premier League for the first time after his midweek Europa League exploits. But to everyone’s surprise, Villa took the lead with John McGinn scoring after 20 minutes from Anwar El Ghazi's cross. Things got complicated for Arsenal when Maitland-Niles picked up a second yellow card for a challenge on Neil Taylor, and the right-back was given his marching orders leaving Arsenal to cope with a man down.

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Arsenal vs Aston Villa: Pepe’s first goal and Aubameyang’s last-minute free-kick

The second half began with Arsenal trying to find their way back into the game and their break came in the 59th minute when Engles brought down Matteo Guendouzi in the box and former Lille player Nicolas Pepe made no mistake to score from the spot. This was his first goal for Arsenal. The Gunners couldn’t celebrate for too long as Jack Grealish picked out Wesley Moraes who made it 1-2 in favour of Villa. The home side tried everything in the book to build pressure against Aston Villa with Guendouzi striking the post with a long-range effort. They managed to equalise again, thanks to defender Callum Chambers. The match seemed to be heading towards a draw, but Arsenal’s main-man - Aubameyang - had other plans. In the 84th minute, Aubameyang thumped a free-kick from just outside the box, creating an electric atmosphere at the Emirates, securing all three points for his team. A number of away fans were left with broken hearts as Aston Villa did put up a great fight but Arsenal completed their comeback and claimed the win.

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Arsenal now move up to fourth with 11 points and next face Manchester United at Old Trafford on matchday seven of the Premier League. Aston Villa are placed 18th on the table and will look to get out of the relegation zone, soon.

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