Arsenal’s Premier League–winning credentials suffered a crushing blow at Villa Park after Matty Cash and Emi Buendía gave the hosts a 2–1 win.
The Gunners are many people’s favourites to win the league but days like this show that they will have to dig deep to reach the finish line.
But as with all teams destined for greatness, they responded well.
First, Mikel Arteta introduced Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres for Eberechi Eze and Mikel Merino.
And it was Trossard, as has so often been the case during his time at the club, who scored the equalising goal after some brilliant link-up play from Martin Odegaard and later Bukayo Saka.
That goal gave Arsenal the boost they needed, with Odegaard reminding many why he is so highly regarded by Arteta, using his vision and skill to create further chances.
But Emi Buendia won it for Villa with the last kick of the game after Arsenal failed to clear their lines, condemning them to only their second league defeat of the season.
