Have Aston Villa now inserted themselves into the title race? The way this place went utterly berserk after the substitute Emiliano Buendía hauled himself off the turf to force the ball in amid a 94th-minute scramble inside the Arsenal box to clinch a ninth victory in 10 matches suggests so. Emiliano Martínez, the former Arsenal goalkeeper, rushed to drink in the winner with the rest of his Villa teammates who formed a throbbing celebratory huddle on halfway. It is fair to say this game, between teams now first and second in the table separated by only three points – particularly remarkable after Villa’s slow start to the campaign – lived up to its billing.
Mikel Arteta had acknowledged the hazards that awaited the Premier League’s pacesetters at Villa Park. Villa inflicted irrecoverable damage on his side in January, Unai Emery’s team rallying from two goals down to earn a point at the Emirates Stadium, a result that left Arsenal lagging behind Liverpool and with too much ground to make up in the title race. Two seasons ago Villa did the double over Arsenal, two late goals earning an away victory in the final weeks of the season that paved the way for Manchester City to pip Arteta’s side to the crown.
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