Substitute Leandro Trossard scored with his first touch and Thomas Partey struck a second as Arsenal claimed revenge for last season’s losses to Aston Villa with 2-0 win at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s team inflicted two defeats on Arsenal last season, the second of which effectively cost them the title, and they appeared to have Mikel Arteta’s side on the ropes again in the second half of an absorbing encounter in the Midlands.
But after a pair of glaring misses from Ollie Watkins, who dragged wide when it looked easier to score in the first half, then saw a close-range header brilliantly saved by David Raya after the break, Trossard swept home Bukayo Saka’s cut-back two minutes after coming on.
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Watch Leandro Trossard fire Arsenal in front with a ‘ruthless finish’
The goal came against the run of play but it shifted the momentum of the game and Arsenal soon doubled their lead through Thomas Partey, whose low shot from the edge of the Villa box, from another Saka pass, beat Emiliano Martinez at his near post.
Earlier, Villa had also gone close through summer signing Andre Onana, whose deflected effort bounced back off the bar in the lead-up to the Watkins header kept out by Raya, but Arsenal held firm, with William Saliba outstanding at the heart of their defence, notably when making a superb last-ditch tackle to deny Leon Bailey.
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Thomas Partey extended Arsenal’s lead with a long-range shot
The victory ensures last season’s runners-up start the new campaign with six points from six having beaten Wolves in their opening game, with Emery’s side unable to build on their win over West Ham against his former side.
Analysis: Trossard is Arsenal’s game-changer
Leandro Trossard continues to pop up at key moments for Arsenal. The Belgian scored a string of vital goals in big games last season, including against Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Porto and Bayern Munich. Now he has another.
Thomas Partey’s long-range strike for Arsenal’s second goal at Villa Park ensured Trossard’s opener was not their winner, per se. But it was certainly the one that changed the game. Arsenal had been on the ropes. The momentum shifted with that swing of his right boot.
First-time finishes have long been his trademark. But this, with his very first touch of the game, only moments after replacing Gabriel Martinelli, took his efficiency to another level.
It was his 18th goal for the Gunners since the start of last season and, having been named only as a substitute in Arsenal’s first two games of the season, it should ensure he is in the starting line-up when they host Brighton next weekend. They might not be going into that game on the back of a win if it wasn’t for him.
