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UNAI EMERY SNUBS TITLE TALK: "VILLA ARE NOT CONTENDERS YET

Unai Emery remains grounded after Villa's ninth straight home win, refusing to talk title. He praises Emi Buendía for his composed, late winning goal.

Unai Emery Snubs Title Talk: "Villa Are Not Contenders Yet
Emery Plays Down Villa Title Hopes

Even after Aston Villa's win against Arsenal, their manager, Unai Emery, doesn't think they're ready to win the Premier League title just yet.

Emery said that it's still too early to call Villa real challengers, and he still sees Arsenal as the favourites.

Emi Buendia scored at the last second, which made Villa Park explode with joy. This win marks their ninth straight at home and their ninth win in the last 10 league games.

Matty Cash scored first, but Leandro Trossard evened the score for Arsenal early in the second half.

When asked if Villa could win the title, Emery said, I'm not even thinking about it. It's a tough road with 38 matches. We're not contenders.

He added, Maybe if we were on matchday 35, we could talk differently. Arsenal has been the best team so far. The way we played them today gives me a lot of faith.

We're playing consistently, and it's paying off with points. I'm so excited with where we are and how we're handling things.

The truth is, we have to face problems, and after 38 matches, we'll see where we stand. Right now, we feel good and strong in our position.

The focus is on one game at a time, in every competition. We play Basel on Thursday. I want to enjoy every moment. Today we won, and we're happy. Now, we're going to rest for a couple of days with family and friends.

Emery had high praise for Buendia, who stayed composed when he scored the winning goal in the 94th minute.

Emery said about the Argentine, It's great to see how he responds when we need him and how he adapts. His impact was great. He's competitive, he showed his quality, and he scored a great goal.

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.

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Antoine Semenyo’s clumsy challenge handed Chelsea a vital lifeline

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.

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Emery snubs Arteta's handshake

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.

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