Matty Cash: Aston Villa title talk must wait until after Christmas dinner

But while Cash, who opened the scoring, did not completely dismiss their chances, he believes it is too early for them to be considered contenders.

Asked if Villa were in the title race, the right-back replied: “It's hard to say. It's like, wow, when you look where we are at the minute, obviously we're three points behind Arsenal. 

“We're in a fantastic position, but we're not even at Christmas yet. So I think we've got to have a bit of Christmas dinner first before we think about that!

“Obviously, it's great to be in this position but we've got loads of football left.

“Talking here and now, it's great to be second but we want to keep being consistent and demanding and hopefully we can have a good run.”

Emi Buendia’s 95th minute winner, with virtually the last kick of the match, condemned Arsenal to just their second defeat of the season and the first since August.

Cash, who had come off just minutes earlier, found himself back on the pitch celebrating with his team-mates and the coaching staff.

He said: “When the goal went in. I went absolutely mental. I think I jumped on the gaffer at one point. It’s the first time I’ve done that!

“It's unbelievable. It felt a little bit surreal, to be honest. It was such a good moment and such a great win.”

Villa have now won nine out of 10 Premier League, including the last five in a row.

Saturday’s victory, against an Arsenal team Emery had declared “clear favourites” for the title, was comfortably their most impressive yet.

Asked it it was an acid test of their own credentials, Cash replied: “Definitely. It was massive. I think they're probably one of the best teams in Europe.

“You're looking at the Champions League, they're flying the Premier League. They're probably favourites to win it. 

“So it was definitely a big challenge for us to see where we were at. We were probably saying the same thing when we played against City as well and managed to beat them. 

“But it’s still early days. Arsenal are a fantastic team and are going to be up there all season. It's good to go toe-to-toe with them sort of teams and see where we're at.”

He continued: “The manager told us before the game how proud he was of us.  

“We've had such a good run, beating Leeds away, then playing Wolves which was a tough game. We've been fantastic. We went to Brighton away and obviously three days ago, we win. 

“We put ourselves in a position to have a right good go at a team that are top of the league. He told us the aim is to win the game. Obviously, at Villa Park, we've got such a good record. Why not go and win it?”