Arsenal may have ridden their luck at Villa Park but after twice losing to Villa in tight games last season, it was about time we turned the tables on Unai Emery.
David Raya and Leandro Trossard proved to be the heroes, the former making a scarcely believable save when the scores were still level before the latter came off the bench to break the deadlock with his first touch.
Here’s what the coaches, players, pundits and stattos made of the Gunners’ 2-0 win.
Mikel Arteta on the win and Trossard’s impact…
We generated a lot of situations and a lot of domination but we didn’t translate that into the score. To be a great team, a total team, you need everyone to contribute. What the subs did to today, especially Leo [Trossard] was unbelievable. He’s done it a lot and I’m very thankful to him because I know he doesn’t like it [being on the bench], he deserves to play as well. When he comes in he really makes a difference.
Source: BBC Match of the Day
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Unai Emery on his side’s defeat…
We have to accept the result. We competed very well against a team that is more mature than us, more experienced than us and their process is more advanced than ours – two or three years building the team with a strong structure tactically. We competed very well and we had three unbelievable chances to score and we didn’t do it. I have to be proud of our work. I think this is the way we can progress and develop the tactical structure with the players. We are trying to get the performance close to teams like Arsenal here, and this is the process we have to try to keep.
Source: AVFC.com
Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal
Mikel Arteta's side come away with three big points from a ground where they lost last season.
Ollie Watkins missed two Opta-defined big chances in a Premier League game for the first time since February against Man Utd (also two).#AVLARS pic.twitter.com/xh3GgKnpc9
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) August 24, 2024
Leandro Trossard on David Raya’s save to deny Ollie Watkins…
Amazing. He saved us a couple of times today. He showed it last week as well, so credit to him. He kept us in the game and then it was great that we finished it off at the end.
Source: Sky Sports
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David Raya on his save…
What I remember, it’s a shot from outside the box, it takes a deflection off Gabi so I think I’m on the floor, on my knee on the floor, so I’m trying to get up. I’ve seen it looping up over my head, I tried to reach it but I can’t reach it, it’s too quick, but then I see the rebound going back to the pitch again and then I see Ollie going in there, I try to react as quick as possible and I just put my hand there and luckily there was nobody around, we cleared the ball and it’s a fantastic save. It’s just a repetition of things. You sometimes do drills where you have to save one ball, get up quick to save the other. It’s just a repetition, years of doing it. This time it has paid off, sometimes it doesn’t pay off. This time it’s sweet to say the hard work has paid off.
Source: Sky Sports
Aston Villa (1.81) 0-2 (1.22) Arsenal
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) August 24, 2024
Aston Villa’s impressive Morgan Rogers on his performance…
I feel like I’m getting better and better and more comfortable in the team. I’m just trying to impress, trying to shine and do what I can for the team. I’d prefer it to be in a win but I’ll look back on myself and think I did well pretty well today. I want to go better, I want to get better, I want to score goals, I want to create, I want to win games for the team but we didn’t quite do that so there’s work to improve on.
Source: Sky Sports
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Mikel Arteta on getting revenge on Villa…
The two previous performances [against Aston Villa], on paper, you have to win comfortably. But we didn’t, so there was something missing. Today, we did it – with a bit of luck and individual performances, we managed to win the game.
Source: BBC Radio 5 Live
Arsenal have only conceded three Premier League away goals in 2024 🧱 pic.twitter.com/FiqTfy6DPo
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 24, 2024
David Raya on Arsenal celebrating defensive actions…
It’s to keep the focus. It’s a defensive action that we are happy to defend. It’s to give some encouragement to the whole team and it’s important we have that here.
Source: BBC Match of the Day
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Trossard on the importance of a good start…
I think a strong start is always good, especially for the feeling, how you go into a new season. Obviously, it’s so early on so it’s hard to predict what’s going to be at the end of the season but it’s definitely what we’re aiming for; to win games. Especially now we want to win every game. It’s not as easy as I say, but that’s what we’re going to aim for. It’s a tough game next week [against Brighton] as well. I know them very well. It’s going to be a good game for us again to measure ourselves.
Source: Sky Sports
Leandro Trossard has scored as many non-penalty Premier League goals as Cole Palmer since the start of last season (13) 👀 pic.twitter.com/KjBWRjpqfk
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 24, 2024
John McGinn on his side’s defeat…
The game was very similar to the games last season, we’re tactically strong, we had good moments in the game, we could have finished it off, we didn’t and that’s when you need to stay focused. We made a couple of changes, I don’t know if that disrupted it, I don’t know, but Arsenal are a top team, they’ll push Man City all the way this season again.
Source: beIN SPORTS
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Arteta on Arsenal securing 18 wins out of 20 this calendar year; a joint Premier League record…
The consistency is unbelievable, it’s a really difficult thing to do, especially in the context of the Premier League so a big credit to the boys for what they are doing. Let’s keep performing and winning.
Source: beIN SPORTS
This is the first time #Arsenal have won their opening two league games in a season without conceding since 1971-72 with Bob Wilson in goal
— Tom Ede (@TomEde1) August 24, 2024
Ian Wright on Arsenal’s win…
We expected Arsenal to dominate possession. Arsenal didn’t have too many problems even though they should have conceded. Trossard was the big difference for me.
Source: premiereague.com
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Jamie Redknapp on Bukayo Saka…
It’s limitless what this guy can do. He’s got so much talent, he’s hard working and is such a team player. He’s the player that you need if Arsenal are to mount a title challenge and if he stays fit, they have every chance to win the title.
Source: Sky Sports
After Arsenal's 2-0 win against Aston Villa, Bukayo Saka has now recorded 100 wins in the Premier League at the age of just 22 years, 354 days. He is the third-youngest in the all-time list in the competition.
Read more about Saka's achievement below. ⬇️
✍️ | @Matt_Furniss
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) August 24, 2024
Arteta on Gabriel Jesus’ groin injury…
Unfortunately on Thursday at the end of a training session, he felt something in his groin so we need to assess him and need an MRI scan to see. Tomorrow or Monday we will have the results.
Source: Post-game press conference
#Maturity
Does anyone have a name for these three in the pic?
Dolce & Galiba
The Non-Negotiables
Dinner Is served
The God, the Gab and the Tanny
Starting the season very well. Big match against the PL leaders next week, let’s hope we can take over from them at the top!
Technically Brighton second on goal difference…were leaders at the start of the day. Still a tough game…
I’m just loving things right now. Especially the clean sheets. Give me 2-0 over 3-1 any day.
COYG 💪🏼
There’s a steely confidence of each lad in each other it’s not just fake or purple patch but a hardened steel formed from tough losses and previous results. This is the makings of a super super team just need another forward and Mr merino
Weird to have the Morgan Rogers quotes
As long as it means he’s auditioning for a cheeky 5 mil. bid that Villa graciously accept I’m fine with it.
I need more players recounting and narrating their own great plays like how David Raya just did. Actually most of all I want to hear Emi Martinez second-by-second recounting of the time Jorginho’s shot went off the crossbar and then unbeknownst to him off his bum and into his own goal for him to lose to his old club in injury time.
Curious that the two sets of quoted xG numbers in this article, and also the one found on flashscores, all differ. It’s a stat! Why are they different?
Because “xG” is not an actual statistic in the sense of an observation of a real thing that actually happened. It is entirely subjective and made up.
Lol, ok thanks! I think I’m super late to this comparison party. Just never thought, or sought, to see them side by side. They should relegate it go the same section as the number of throw-ins
Shots are objective events! Where there is subjectivity is what rules are applied to those data points to generate a metric like xG. In a single game that can look somewhat different model to model as not all agree on how best to measure this but over a season’s with of shots it does tell a convincing story about teams or individuals.
There is no agreed upon definition and criteria for what constitutes a ‘big chance/clear cut chance’.
True… I guess (having reflected in the interim whilst my response to tony gets approved by the admin gods), I knew it’s subjective. It has to be! Just assumed it was one source deciding
Events like goals headers and tackles up are counted up and the word stats is used to describe that but those are not stats, they are just numbers, simple counts of a specific event. A statistic is when you take such numbers and turn them into something else, for example an average. xG is a statistic. It is based on a database of all the shots that have ever been taken as well as all the goals that have ever resulted from those shots. It breaks down those shots into zones and the body part used by the shooting player… Read more »
That’s different from xG but sometimes xG is used to define it.
I don’t get it selling Emile and then loaning viera to Porto, this doesn’t sit well cox we need cover for martin and now the two best creative prayers we have, have left the club.. Woow.
Plus we need a god damn striker Mikel we CNT rely on Jesus all season nearly 3games and he’s injured
Vieira is a curious case but must be the confidence in ethan and myles skelly , can myles skelly inverting as a LB turn zinky into a 8 aswell as rice Martin , ethan and merino??
I understand were u coming from we need experience pro’s cox there will be games that we can’t rely on Ethan or skelly. And that’s were squad depth come into play + we need a good focal striker
Look at the side. It’s massive. Tough. And defensively switched on. Arteta thinks we need 94 points to win the league and beat way to so that is to be tough to beat. ESR and Viera are just too slight and defensively are lacking.
Also – arteta wants players that eat sleep and sh.t football. Utter focus. That’s why he’s given Eddie so many chances. Great pro. Esr and Vieira both have struggled to be that intense.
Good points but the season is long Martin, saka can’t play all games and we need them fresh and fatique free..
ESR looking good at Fulham, nice goal yesterday👍
We are fortunate in a way that the Jesus injury happened before the transfer deadline. We need to get another striker if Nketia and Jesus are unavailable.
Also somehow nobody is talking about Jurrien Timber. That was his first start for us in ages and it was our second game, a bit short handed, against an opponent that has given us the most issues in the past year. He was asked to step into midfield from LB and partner TP in the buildup against Villa’s trap of a mid block that was designed to compel bad decisions, then shut down Leon Bailey on the flank or one of their their many power ball carriers in transition. That’s a BIG ask, esp in possession, requires so much patience… Read more »
I think the fact nobody is talking about him on basically his first start in more than a year, after the injury he’s had, is 100% a fantastic development. It’s extremely unrealistic to expect him to be anywhere as good as he was pre-injury so early, I was worried (and still to some extent am) that he might have some actively bad performances that will get supporters turning on him and completely forgetting how long it takes to get back in form after an injury like that. So every match that goes by where he doesn’t get talked about is… Read more »
Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what Mikel and the staff are telling him too – just focus on being solid for now, and allow the more spectacular elements of your game to slowly flow back into it gradually on their own. Don’t force anything or try anything too fancy, wait until you really feel your confidence in your body coming back, then slowly the confidence in your anticipation of opposing players, the timing of your passes and dribbles etc.