ASTON VILLA STUN ARSENAL LATE: BUENDíA WINNER SPARKS TITLE RACE
Unai Emery's Villa beat Arsenal 2-1 to close the gap on the leaders. Cash and Buendía scored in the thrilling Premier League clash.
Mikel Arteta knew going to Villa Park wouldn't be easy for his Arsenal team, the current Premier League leaders. In January, Aston Villa came back from two goals down to tie Arsenal at their home stadium, a result that put Arsenal behind Liverpool in the title race. Two seasons ago, Villa beat Arsenal twice, including a late away win that helped Manchester City win the league.
So, Arteta and Arsenal knew they had a tough job against a Villa team that had won 12 of their last 14 games, including eight of their last nine league games. Unai Emery also knew it wouldn't be easy against an Arsenal side that had won 17 of their 21 games this season and improved their team over the summer. Even with Cristhian Mosquera out with an ankle injury, they still looked strong. Interestingly, Arteta replaced Emery as manager six years ago, aiming to win a title they haven't won since 2003-04.
Have Villa now joined the title race? The fans went wild after Emiliano Buendía, who came off the bench, scored in the 94th minute to win the game, their ninth in the last 10 matches, suggesting they have. Emiliano Martínez, the former Arsenal goalkeeper, joined his Villa teammates in celebrating the win. This game, between the teams now in first and second place and only three points apart, certainly lived up to the hype, especially considering Villa's slow start to the season.
Villa took the lead in the first half with a goal from Matty Cash. Just minutes after Declan Rice blocked Cash's shot, the Villa right-back scored through the legs of David Raya after Timber touched Pau Torres's cross. Emery celebrated as the Villa players ran to the corner flag to celebrate with Cash.
Arteta made quick changes, bringing on Viktor Gyökeres and Leandro Trossard at halftime. Trossard almost scored a volley in the 50th minute, and soon after, he tied the game. Declan Rice won the ball and set up Ødegaard, who found Bukayo Saka. Martínez saved Saka's cross, but Trossard scored on the rebound.
"Just win your games and see what happens," Arteta had said before the game. While Arsenal had momentum after tying the game, Villa didn't give up. Donyell Malen shot just wide, and Martínez saved a shot from Ødegaard. In the end, Buendía scored the winning goal almost at the last second.
VAR REVIEW: CHELSEA 2-2 BOURNEMOUTH, ESTêVãO PENALTY DRAMA EXPLAINED! WAS IT A FOUL OR A DIVE
Explaining the VAR: How an 11th-minute penalty check at Stamford Bridge saved a point for Chelsea against a resilient Bournemouth.
Every week, the Video Assistant Referee stirs up drama in the Premier League. Let's break down how these calls are made and if they're actually right.
This season, we're digging into the big moments to explain the VAR process and the rules of the game.
What went down: Chelsea's Estêvão was moving into the Bournemouth box, with Antoine Semenyo on his tail. Estêvão went down after some contact with Semenyo. The ref, Barrott, waved off Chelsea's penalty shouts, saying there wasn't a foul. He thought both players made contact naturally as they were running, and Estêvão basically tripped himself.
VAR said, "After looking at it, VAR Pawson suggested Barrott take another look at the monitor for a possible penalty because Semenyo might have tripped Estêvão."
VAR's take: Pawson had to figure out if the contact was just part of the play, like the ref thought, or if Semenyo fouled Estêvão. It was clear Estêvão tripped, but the question was how the contact started.
At first glance, it would be hard for Pawson to disagree with the ref because the main TV angle wasn't clear. But after checking out the sideline and behind views, Pawson saw that Semenyo stepped into Estêvão's path, making enough contact with his leg to cause him to trip.
Pawson told Barrott to check the monitor for a possible penalty. Barrott watched the replays, agreed, and gave Chelsea the penalty.
The call: It was a reasonable VAR call based on today's standards. But it's a borderline case.
Barrott seemed unsure of the monitor and needed some convincing from different angles.
A lot of the time, this kind of contact is just from players running normally, and someone goes down. To give a penalty, there really needs to be a clear foul by the defender. You could say that happened here, but it's a pretty low standard for VAR to get involved.
Chelsea 2-2 AFC Bournemouth
Referee: Sam Barrott
VAR: Craig Pawson
What: VAR check for a foul in the box
When: 11th minute
BREAKING: UNAI EMERY REVEALS THE REAL REASON BEHIND HIS COLD ARTETA HANDSHAKE SNUB NOW
Unai Emery explains why he skipped the post-match handshake as Arsenal’s 4-1 win ends Aston Villa’s 11-game streak at the Emirates.
Unai Emery said he didn't shake Mikel Arteta's hand right after Aston Villa lost at the Emirates Stadium since the Arsenal manager kept him waiting.
This loss stopped Villa's winning streak at 11 games, their first in almost two months.
Villa held their own in the first half, but Arsenal scored early in the second when Gabriel got to the ball before Emi Martinez on a corner.
Martin Zubimendi quickly made it 2-0, and Leandro Trossard scored a third goal a little after an hour had passed.
Soon after entering the pitch, Gabriel Jesus scored, making it 4-0. Ollie Watkins was able to respond by tapping in a goal late in the game after Donyell Malen's nice play.
After the game, Emery waited to shake Arteta's hand, but he went to the locker room since Arteta was still celebrating with his team.
It’s easy to see. I like to do things fast,” Emery said when asked about why he didn’t shake Arteta’s hand.
“I shake hands, then I go to the dressing room with my players and coaches. I was waiting.
“Arteta was busy with his coaches, so I went inside. It’s not a big deal for me.”
About the match, Emery commented, “We played great in the first half, and things were going our way. We had corners and defended well. We didn’t let them get a corner in the first half.
“We felt good, but we let in the first goal in the second half. Onana getting hurt didn’t help since he’s important for set pieces and in the midfield.
“We didn’t quit, and we kept playing hard. We scored one goal and almost scored more. Arsenal is the best team in the league and should win the title.
“I’m not sure which day it is since we’ve played Arsenal twice already, and we still have to play Nottingham. But I’m happy with our goals and how we're trying to attain them.