Arsenal slipped further in their Premier League title charge after a stoppage-time goal condemned Mikel Arteta’s side to a 2-1 defeat against in-form Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
It was the Gunners’ first defeat since the narrow 1-0 loss to Liverpool in August, while the result extended Aston Villa’s run to seven straight victories across all competitions as they moved to third as they sit third on the league table with 30 points.
Matty Cash opened the scoring for Aston Villa in the 36th minute, when the Poland international pounced on a deflected shot, which slipped in between the legs of goalkeeper David Raya from close range.
However, Arsenal equalised seven minutes into the second half through Leandro Trossard following a combined play by Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, who crossed the ball into the box before the Belgian winger put it into the net.
Both teams had chances to score again but failed to nail them until the added time, when Emiliano Buendia roofed a pass from Boubacar Kamara with the final touch of the game to secure a dramatic victory for Aston Villa.
The result meant that second-placed Manchester City reduced Arsenal’s league lead to just two points from five coming into this weekend after the defending champions thrashed 10-man Sunderland 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
Ruben Dias put City ahead in the 31st minute from an assist by Rayan Cherki before Josko Gvardiol doubled the lead four minutes later, with a powerful header past Robin Roefs from Phil Foden’s cross.
Meanwhile, Folden got his own goal in the 65th minute following a counter-attack that allowed Cherki to play a rabona cross towards the edge of the six-yard box, which the unmarked England international headed home.
The win increased Manchester City’s tally to 31 points, with only two adrift of Arsenal, who are on 33.
Following the midweek shocking 3-1 loss to Leeds United, Chelsea failed to recover as the Blues were held to a goalless draw by Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
The only time the ball found the back of the net came five minutes into the encounter when Antoine Semenyo fired home a ball controlled by Evanilson inside the 18-yard box, but the goal was ruled out by VAR as the latter was offside in the build-up.
With 25 points from 15 games, Chelsea remain fourth at least until Monday, when other fixtures for this matchday are decided.
Full results
Aston Villa 2 vs 1 Arsenal
Bournemouth 0 vs 0 Chelsea
Everton 3 vs 0 Nottingham Forest
Manchester City 3 vs 0 Sunderland
Newcastle United 2 vs 1 Burnley
Tottenham 2 vs 0 Brentford
Leeds United 3 vs 3 Liverpool
