Emery came out on top on Saturdayplaceholder image
Emery came out on top on Saturday | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Mikel Arteta has been complimentary of Aston Villa after Arsenal’s late defeat in the West Midlands.
The result allowed Manchester City to close the gap to Arsenal to just two points, while Villa themselves are now withing three points after a sizzling run of form that has seen them outdo all Premier League clubs when it comes to total league wins since March.
Asked if Villa are title contenders after the game, Arteta responded: “They are. When you look at where they are, the way they play, they have beaten some big teams, especially at home. Everybody is going to have to play everybody, so at the moment they are where they are and we are there as well.”
Villa boss Emery told VillaTV: “I’m so, so happy I’m very proud how our supporters enjoyed this match. We wanted to play thinking here at Villa Park to transmit our supporters our energy, our wishes, our style, idea; playing with energy, intensity, playing football like we played.
“And, as well, when we needed some help through the supporters, transmitting us their energy and support. We were sometimes struggling, or sometimes they were dominating, but we were always, more or less, feeling good. And, through it, during the match, when they drew level, we were again recovering our domination through our combination with the players, taking passes and getting into the box.
“I think we were close to scoring but, of course, when you are going, maybe they can as well get some transition and score a goal. But we were pushing and we were really, really believing in our victory. And we pushed until the last minute, and we got it.”
Arteta on bitter defeat
It felt like a painful defeat for Arsenal given the nature and the timing of the winner, but Arteta cut a reasonable figure at full-time. “Obviously we are extremely disappointed with the way we lost the game, but first of all I want to congratulate Villa because they are a really good side, and they are really good at what they do,” said the Spaniard.
“We had some difficulties in the first half, especially with some very unusual giveaways that we have given after regaining the ball, which is a really dangerous moment against them. But apart from the Watkins situation, which is a foul, I don't recall anything apart from the goal.
“The second half, we started really well, much more positive. We generated chances, scored the goal, and my feeling was that we were going to go on and win the game. We could have lost it before, again with two very dangerous individual giveaways, and we didn't. We had two chances to score, the last one with the ball across to Declan and we didn't capitalise on that. The next goal kick [went] long, it goes there, second ball, we put it away for a throw-in, they played fast, a lot of chaos in the box and they managed to put the ball in the top corner, which is the quality of this league, so that's the summary.”
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