Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa

Aston Villa fell to defeat against Arsenal in the Premier League at Emirates Stadium on Friday night – despite Jacob Ramsey’s maiden top flight goal.

Thomas Partey glanced a header past Emiliano Martinez to hand the hosts the lead, and despite dominating the first half, they required a VAR intervention to grab their second via the penalty spot.

Having blown the half-time whistle, referee Craig Pawson brought the players back onto the pitch for a hotly-disputed foul by Matt Targett, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tucking away the rebound after Martinez saved his penalty.

Emile Smith Rowe’s shot deflected in off Tyrone Mings to make it 3-0 before Ramsey hit back with a superb strike late on.

After narrowly avoiding defeat on home turf against Crystal Palace on Monday, the Gunners started like they had a point to prove and threatened early on via Aubameyang’s scissor kick and Nuno Tavares’ driven shot before the former had a close-range goal ruled out for a foul in the build-up.

Villa were struggling to get a foothold in the game, and the away side were grateful to see Partey’s shot cannon back off the post after 20 minutes.

But just three minutes later the visitors fell behind when the Ghanaian midfielder turned Smith Rowe’s corner past Martinez.

When Villa began to gain some territory in the Arsenal half after 30 minutes, a lightning quick counter-attack from the hosts almost produced a second goal when Tavares raced away down the left and squared for Bukayo Saka, whose first-time shot was superbly saved by Martinez’s trailing leg.

Partey headed another chance wide before VAR intervened moments after the half-time whistle to award Arsenal a penalty, bringing the players back onto the pitch after Targett was adjudged to have fouled Alexandre Lacazette.

Former Gunner Martinez dived to his right and saved Aubameyang’s spot kick, but the striker made no mistake with his follow-up to double his side’s lead.

Having failed to force Aaron Ramsdale into a save in the first half, within seconds of the restart Villa immediately showed more attacking intent and Ollie Watkins saw a low effort saved by the ‘keeper’s feet.

While the visitors were enjoying more of the game, Arsenal’s speed on the counter-attack remained a threat – one which paid dividends in the form of their third goal on 56 minutes.

A stray pass from John McGinn allowed Smith Rowe to intercept and begin a move that ended with the playmaker’s shot taking an unfortunate deflection off Mings and wrongfooting Martinez as it rolled in off the post.

Villa’s best chance of the game followed shortly after when Emiliano Buendia collected Targett’s through ball and bore down on goal, forcing Ramsdale into a sharp save to preserve his clean sheet.

However, the goalkeeper could only stand and watch after 82 minutes as substitute Ramsey picked out the top corner with a cultured strike from the edge of the box.

The homegrown midfielder went close to adding to his tally as Villa tried to salvage something from the game, but they were left empty-handed as the final whistle sounded.