The first half of the game saw a fairly even game with several serious chances on both sides.
Aston Villa threatened through Ollie Watkins, while Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyökeres came closest to scoring. However, despite the chances, the result did not change until the break.
Everything changed right after the break. In the 48th minute, Gabriel took advantage of Bukaya Saka’s precise corner and scored from close range to give Arsenal the lead.
Just a few minutes later, the home team doubled their lead when Martin Zubimendi routinely sent the ball into the net after an excellent pass from Martin Odegaard.
Aston Villa failed to establish control after that, and the question of the winner was definitively settled in the 69th minute. Leandro Trossard increased the advantage to 3:0 with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area.
The final breakdown of the guests came in the 79th minute when reserve Gabriel Jesus scored Arsenal’s fourth goal with a precise shot from distance. The consolation goal for Aston Villa was scored by Watkins in stoppage time, which made the final score 4:1.
With this victory, Arsenal overcame an extremely motivated Aston Villa and after this round remains the leader of the Premiership.
Unlike the London club, Manchester United experienced disappointment. At Old Trafford, the Red Devils played only 1:1 against Wolverhampton, a team that had only two points before this meeting.
United took the lead in the 27th minute when Joshua Zirkzee’s shot bounced off a visiting defender and ended up behind goalkeeper José Sá.
However, the joy of the home team was short-lived because Ladislav Krejči equalized the result with a header at the end of the first half after a corner.
In the continuation of the match, Manchester United failed to impose the pace or find a way to the net, so the match ended without a winner, which caused new dissatisfaction of the home fans.
(Vijesti.ba)
