Pictures and analysis of Arsenal 2 Aston Villa 1
Another day of capital punishment for Aston Villa.
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Another day of capital punishment for Aston Villa.
It's fair to say this season's trips down to London will not be remebered fondly by many Villa supporters.
Villa have managed just a solitary point from their six Premier League away days in the nation's capital with just two goals scored and 15 conceded. And there is the FA Cup embarrassment at Millwall to throw in as well.
However, this display was an infinitely more credible one than the majority the claret and blue faithful have endured against their cockney counterparts during this testing campaign.
Indeed Paul Lambert was accurate in his assessment that his side "deserved a point" from a contest in which they did well to frustrate Arsenal and created chances of their own.
The problem is that, with 11 games left and Villa in the relegation zone, there comes a time when ifs, buts and maybes don't really wash with the supporters.
Villa simply must start to convert their work endeavour into league points on the board if they are to avoid the nightmare of relegation. It's not a matter of how, it's how many.
Lambert made two changes from the side that beat West Ham after captain Ron Vlaar was ruled out with a calf injury so Joe Bennett came into the starting line-up with Nathan Baker moved to centre-back.
Gabby Agbonlahor came in for Jordan Bowery, who was named among the substitutes, with Shay Given and Darren Bent not considered fit enough for the bench while Stephen Ireland was once again omitted for football reasons.
Predictably Arsenal dominated possession early on and Jack Wilshere, who was imperious throughout, tested the reflexes of Villa keeper Brad Guzan at the near post with a low drive.
It should have served as an early warning for the visitors, who had started slowly, but inevitably Arsenal opened the scoring.
The tricky Santi Cazorla jinked his way into the penalty area and found the bottom right-corner of the net after his initial shot had been blocked by Baker.
Given Arsenal's total control of an opening spell, a burst water main outside the Emirates Stadium might have served as an omen that Villa's floodgates would open.
In fact the goal sprung Villa into life and Charles N'Zogbia led a counter-attack four minutes later and teed up Gabby Agbonlahor who saw his effort from the edge of the box parried by Wojciech Szczesny in the Arsenal goal.
Andreas Weimann found space to cross from a dangerous position shortly afterwards but Agbonlahor was unable to get a touch as he slid into the six-yard box.
A neat passing move from the home side saw Abou Diaby find Theo Walcott on the corner of the penalty area in the 30th minute, but his curling effort went just over the top-left corner of the goal.
Wilshere posed the home side's greatest threat as he pulled the strings in midfield and the Villa defence did well to deny him a shooting opportunity as he twisted and turned inside the box just before half-time.
Cazorla continued to cause problems down the Villa right and his low angled shot moments after the break forced Guzan to make a smart diving save to push the ball past the post.
England midfielder Wilshere was instrumental in all of Arsenal's positive play after the break, however it was Villa who drew level in the 68th minute on the counter-attack.
Villa cleared a corner and Carl Jenkinson made a hash of things as he attempted to control the ball, which allowed N'Zogbia to head the ball into Weimann.
The Austria striker's rampaging run from the halfway line caught the Arsenal defence on the back foot and he made use of the space afforded to him to strike a low shot, which Szczesny made a mess of, into the net.
It was just reward for Villa's efforts, but as usual they failed to make it count as they retreated, which meant Arsenal always looked the more likely to find a winner.
Guzan tipped Olivier Giroud's header from a Walcott corner on to the crossbar in the 80th minute and three minutes later Cazorla skimmed a ball across the face of goal that nobody in an Arsenal shirt could get on the end of.
Arsenal's pressure eventually told in the 85th minute, though, when Wilshere dinked a pass over a flat-footed Weimann for Nacho Monreal to chase and his low cutback picked out Cazorla who finished confidently past Guzan.
It left the travelling fans crestfallen – thank goodness London will not be calling again until next season.
By Timothy Abraham
