The national media believe Aston Villa are firmly cemented in the Premier League title race after beating Arsenal
Emi Buendia scored a late winner against Arsenal
Emi Buendia scored a late winner against Arsenal(Image: PA)
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Aston Villa closed the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to just three points after dramatically beating them 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Matty Cash opened the scoring 10 minutes before the break, but Leandro Trossard came off the bench to level the game up just after the interval.
Emi Buendia struck in the dying embers, rattling the back of the net with the last kick of the game, to win Villa all three points.
Here's how the national media reacted to Villa's victory...
BBC
By Nick Mashiter
Unai Emery continues to deny Aston Villa are in the title race, even as his old club Arsenal start to look vulnerable at the top of the Premier League.
Villa's head coach is playing down his current side's chances at a time when their form has become impossible to ignore.
A dramatic 2-1 win over Arsenal on Saturday moved Villa just three points behind the Gunners, with Manchester City joining both in the top three.
The Guardian
By Ben Fisher
As this game ticked into the 95th minute, an enthralling contest had already lived up to its billing. And then mayhem unfolded inside the Arsenal 18-yard box and, subsequently, in the Villa Park stands, the 128-year foundations put to the test as Emiliano Buendía, enveloped by the rubble of splayed defenders and with virtually the last kick of the game, exhibited unthinkable composure to curl a first-time shot into the corner and seemingly blow the Premier League title race wide open.
Not for the first time, Aston Villa had been the architects of Arsenal’s downfall, though few envisioned a climax quite like this. David Raya blocked Youri Tielemans’s side-foot effort from inside the six-yard box and then Buendía saw his initial effort halted by a combination of Martín Zubimendi and Jurriën Timber before seizing on the loose ball. Buendía slipped as he shifted possession to Boubacar Kamara and Arsenal smelled danger, Ben White and Timber flinging themselves towards the ball.
The Telegraph
By Sam Dean
Unai Emery bounced down the touchline, his Aston Villa players ran in directions they could not explain and, in the stands of a shaking Villa Park, thousands of supporters lost themselves in a wave of delirium. Football does wild things to the mind and, as Emiliano Buendia scored the goal that cemented Villa’s status as title challengers, brains were melting all over this corner of Birmingham.
It was a victory sealed with the final kick of the game but this cannot be described as a smash-and-grab by Emery’s side. They were better than Arsenal for most of the afternoon, creating a series of chances and posing some horrible questions of Mikel Arteta’s defence. Rarely do Arsenal look as vulnerable as they did here, against the running power of Morgan Rogers and the midfield power of Boubacar Kamara.
Daily Mail
By Tom Collomosse
Unai Emery looks like having a far greater impact on Arsenal ’s history as an opposing manager than he ever did during his 18 months in north London.
In the 2023-24 season, his Aston Villa claimed six points from Arsenal, who lost out on the title by two points to Manchester City. And on a spine-tingling afternoon at Villa Park, Emery’s team barged into the title race as Emi Buendia’s last-minute winner took them just three points behind the Gunners.
When substitute Buendia’s stoppage-time effort found the net, several Arsenal players hit the deck as though they had lost a Champions League Final. Emery celebrated as though he had won one, tearing down the touchline like Jose Mourinho after his Porto side scored at Old Trafford in 2004.
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The Times
By Jonathan Northcroft
One last cross to defend, one more block to make, one more save, one last storm to weather — or so it seemed. Arsenal did this all and still Aston Villa kept coming. Arsenal threw bodies at the ball, bodies on the floor, and still there was no let up from Unai Emery’s ferocious, persistent and hungry team.
Villa pushed a further time. David Raya had stopped Youri Tielemans’ near-post flick and Jurrien Timber had blocked Emi Buendía’s follow-up and then Timber and Declan Rice had flung themselves in the way of a Boubacar Kamara shot.
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