Unai Emery finally succumbed to his first Emirates defeat as a visiting manager, ending a run of four games unbeaten away at Arsenal, and his historic eleven-game winning run with Aston Villa, level with the club record.
The win for Arsenal, albeit massive – the biggest margin win between two teams starting the gameweek in the top three since Man City against Arsenal in April 2023, also 4-1, is little consolation given the context of the Gunners’ season.
Unai Emery‘s charge ended Arsenal’s 18-game unbeaten run at the start of December, when Emiliano Buendia’s last-gasp goal took Villains three points away from the league leaders, while also seeing them lose a game when they had scored for the first time this season.
Aston Villa have been consistent since overcoming their poor start to the season, but Arsenal were rather unlucky to lose at Villa Park, especially after leveling matters through Leandro Trossard in the second half.
In the absence of both Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, they had to play Jurrien Timber and Piero Hincapie in center back, and also rue the loss of Cristhian Mosquera to a knee injury in the win over Brentford during the week.
Nevertheless, when a club is bigger than the other, but results have consistently favoured the underdogs, it gives widespread publicity for the fixture, yet Aston Villa may not be as big as Arsenal, but the margins these days are not so wide.
Only Manchester City has won more Premier League games against Arsenal under Mikel Arteta than Aston Villa, with many of these defeats and draws having great implications on the season, and after conceding that late goal in Birmingham, it looked as though they would again define Arsenal’s season.
Although Arsenal did not completely recover from that loss, they managed to grind out wins and preserve their two and three-point leads over Man City and Aston Villa, respectively.
Arsenal took Villa to the cleaners
Arsenal made their intentions known immediately after kickoff. They controlled the tempo while giving Aston Villa the burden of defending responsibilities, although the visitors looked dangerous on the counter.
They failed to have any shot on target until the added minute of the game, and ultimately finished it with three. However, they were not good enough for Arsenal for a significant part of the game, and this was evident on the scoreline.
Arsenal, who have been wasteful in recent games, could not beat Emiliano Martinez in the first half, but took the lead through the returning Gabriel Magalhaes from a Bukayo Saka’s corner kick, less than three minutes after the restart.
It was their 20th corner set-piece goal (excluding penalties) in the Premier League in 2025, making them the second club to register 20+ set-piece goals in consecutive seasons in the competition, first since Wimbledon between 1993 and 1996.
Being the 17th scored from corner kicks, it makes Arsenal the club with the second most goals from corner kicks, behind only Manchester United, who bagged 12 under Sir Alex Ferguson in the 2012 calendar year.
The visitors had no time to settle down before Arsenal fashioned the second four minutes later. Martin Ødegaard won possession, drove forward before spotting the run of Martin Zubimendi, who finished with aplomb for 2-0.
Conceding two goals at Emirates has been certain defeat for all the visitors this season, and Aston Villa, who came from 2-0 down to snatch a point in their last visit back in January, were not to defy defeat this time, as Leandro Trossard got the reward for his hard work with a fine strike for 3-0 in the 69th minute.
It was his fifth goal involvement against Unai Emery’s team since the start of last season (three goals and two assists), having scored in both meetings at Villa Park.
The party got even better for the Belgian, who added another assist for the fourth goal, scored by Gabriel Jesus with his first touch of the ball 12 minutes from time, a minute after taking the place of Viktor Gyokeres.
Arsenal had the game won before Villa could even have had a shot on target, and Ollie Watkins fired home from close range in the fourth minute of added time to grab a consolation for the visitors, who fell to their fourth defeat and now trail the leaders by six points.
A victory for Mikel Arteta
Success has been difficult to achieve for Mikel Arteta since his time at Arsenal, and Unai Emery, the man he succeeded on the job, has been at the heart of the misfortunes.
From the Europa League semi-final loss in 2021 to the defeat at Emirates that ended their title bid in April 2024, it hasn’t been easy to live with, especially with a section of the fans calling for his exit due to this reason.
The loss at the Villa Park added another episode to the long series and Villa arriving at Arsenal on such a run was a message to fans, but Arsenal’s dominant display has casted away any doubt.
From the start to end, it was just what the former Arsenal midfielder would have wanted, but may be a bit disappointed for the late goal that denied them a clean sheet. Nevertheless, it was a whitewash.
What it embarrassing for Unai Emery?
For Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, it was one of those nights when you knew you had been outclassed, but the Basque manager disappointingly avoided the full-time handshake with Mikel Arteta, heading straight for the tunnel after the final whistle.
Although he gave an excuse of feeling cold as his reason for not waiting, for a manager who had visited the same stadium in previous times, and even worked there for 18 months, it is not a coincidence that his cold came on the night of his first loss as a visiting manager.
Nevertheless, it does show how embarrassed he was at the outcome of the game, a fixture he had made his own, and an opportunity to move level on points with the league leaders now behind them for now.
What now for Arsenal?
Arsenal know they are that good, and they can be that good on a more consistent basis. The previous few games have seen them struggle, but it’s all down to their own poor finishing. A date like that one against Villa was always coming, and they’ll be glad of the timing.
Now they have to build on the result and momentum in 2026, especially in January, when they’ll play nine games, including Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter, and Manchester United, with Pep Guardiola’s City breathing down their neck in the league race.
Mikel Arteta has said they know what they want in 2026. If they are more consistent, they may become unstoppable. For now, attention is turned to their trip to Vitality stadium this weekend, where they’ll face the volatile Bournemouth, who have stopped both Man United and Chelsea in the last few weeks.
It is only the first half of the season gone and loads of football games to be played, in a league of margins, but the longer Arsenal stay on course, the better their chance of finally ending their two-decade wait for a Premier League title.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
