Leandro Trossard scored with his first touch after coming off the bench and Thomas Partey struck a second as Arsenal claimed revenge for last season’s losses to Aston Villa with a 2-0 win at Villa Park on Saturday.
Unai Emery’s team inflicted two defeats on Arsenal last season, the second of which effectively cost them the title, and they appeared to have Mikel Arteta’s side on the ropes again in the second half of an absorbing encounter in the Midlands.
But after a pair of glaring misses from Ollie Watkins, who dragged wide when it looked easier to score in the first half, then saw a close-range header sensationally saved by David Raya after the break, Trossard swept home Bukayo Saka’s cut-back two minutes after coming on.
The goal came against the run of play but it shifted the momentum of the game and Arsenal soon doubled their lead through Thomas Partey, whose low shot from the edge of the Villa box, from another Saka pass, beat Emiliano Martinez at his near post.
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Earlier, Villa had also gone close through summer signing Andre Onana, whose deflected effort bounced back off the bar in the lead-up to the Watkins header kept out by Raya, but Arsenal held firm, with William Saliba outstanding as well as Raya, notably when making a superb last-ditch tackle to help deny Jacob Ramsey.
The win ensures last season’s runners-up start the new campaign with six points from six having beaten Wolves in their opener, with Villa unable to build on their win over West Ham against his former side.
Arteta said after the game: “We had to change momentum. We had a 10-minute gap when we didn’t get the rhythm and they were on top. They had the big chance and David Raya made an unbelievable save. It was the magic moment of the game.
“Villa had a more defensive approach than we expected, but we adapted and the team played with a lot of courage.
“When you need individuals they stood up and they made themselves count. That’s why we won the game.”
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