The Premier League title race has entered a white-hot stage, and the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the table is not small, and the Gunners have received good news and bad news before this round, the bad news is that Manchester City took the lead and won, and the good news is that Liverpool suffered an upset defeat to Crystal Palace. Then Arsenal also ushered in the 33rd round of the Premier League, against former coach Unai Emery's Villa, Pele and Watkins scored one goal each in the second half, Arsenal was killed 0:2, giving the initiative to Manchester City.
The Gunners are in contention for the league title, Villa are also a force to be reckoned with, and Unai Emery's side are in a Champions League spot battle with Tottenham Hotspur and they cannot afford to lose the remaining games. Although there is a Champions League second leg next week, Mikel Arteta has not made much of a reservation, with Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka attacking three times, Kai Havertz dropping back to partner Rice and Odegaard in midfield, Ben White, Gabriel, Saliba and Ben White leading the defence and Raya standing in front of goal. On Villa's side, Diaby, Watkins, Pau Torres, McGinn and Martinez also played together.
In the 11th minute, Trossard held the ball diagonally on the left side, Havertz inserted the shot and was bravely blocked by Martinez; in the 16th minute, Zinchenko made a long pass at the back, Havertz cut into the penalty area with a single chance, but only hesitated slightly, and then the shot was defused by Martinez; in the 20th minute, Odegao made a precise straight stop, and Saka shot into the side netting from a small angle. Villa, of course, were not going to rest on their laurels and found a counter-attack after withstanding the Gunners' attack, and in the 39th minute, Gabriel and Zinchenko made a mistake and Watkins broke the ball and fired a low shot at the post.
One minute later, Arsenal attacked the edge of the box, Odegaard's long-range shot was blocked, Jesus received the ball on the right, Trossard flanked and pushed the ball from close range, Martinez saved the goal with a god save in front of the goal line, and then Saka received Ben White's knock back, and the shot was only slightly wide.
In the 61st minute of the second half, Zinchenko hesitated to hold the ball in the backfield and was broken, Tieleman shot directly to the goal, the ball hit the crossbar and rebounded and hit the post, Villa was really a little unlucky, both chances were denied in the second half, 1 minute later, Saka knocked back after making a fuss on the right side, Jesus shot directly from the penalty area, and Martinez made another wonderful block.
Failed to break the balance on the field, Arteta continued to deploy troops to try to make changes, but there was still a problem with the Gunners' backline; in the 84th minute, Digne knocked on the left side to the goal, Watkins failed to grab the point, but Raya also made a mistake in attacking, Leon Bailey at the back point pushed the empty goalkeeper, 0:1! This goal also caused problems with Arsenal's mentality, in the 87th minute, Jorginho's direct pass in front was broken, McGinn made a direct long pass, Watkins had a single chance to withstand Smith Rowe's defense and shoot into the net, 0:2! The Gunners conceded two goals in three minutes, and many fans left the stadium early. Watkins has scored 19 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League this season, the most of any player in the league this season.
In the end, Arsenal lost 0-2 at home, home and away to Villa, and the Gunners also suffered their first league defeat since the start of 2024, and to make matters worse, Arsenal could only sit second in the table after the defeat, and Manchester City led by two points and regained the initiative in the title race.