Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal

Aston Villa suffered injury-time heartbreak as Arsenal struck late on to inflict a dramatic 4-2 defeat at Villa Park.

Villa twice took the lead but the spoils looked to be shared heading into added time, only for the Gunners to twice find the net in the closing stages and leave the hosts empty handed.

In-form Ollie Watkins drilled the Villans in front after just five minutes with his fourth goal in as many games and eighth of the season.

Yet the lead lasted just 11 minutes as Bukayo Saka thundered Premier League title contenders Arsenal level.

Philippe Coutinho restored Villa’s advantage just after the half hour with a well-taken finish, his first goal of the season, only for Oleksandr Zinchenko to level again for the Gunners with a low strike in the second half.

The clash looked set to end all square before the injury time drama unfolded.

Firstly, Jorginho’s long-range strike rebounded off the underside of the crossbar and the hit the back of an unfortunate Emi Martínez in the 93^rd minute, before Gabriel Martinelli added an even later fourth on the breakaway, slotting into an empty net after the Villa goalkeeper had gone up for a corner.

The pulsating conclusion capped an action-packed encounter which also saw Eddie Nketiah head against the woodwork while substitute Leon Bailey saw his effort pushed against the underside of the crossbar.

Unai Emery made five changes for the encounter, Tyrone Mings passing a late fitness test while there were also recalls for Coutinho, Matty Cash, Álex Moreno and John McGinn, who took the captain’s armband.  

And it was Cash who helped the hosts get off to the perfect start, much to the delight of Hollywood actor and Villa fan Tom Hanks, who was in attendance at Villa Park.

The right-back won possession deep in Villa’s half and duly sent a long pass over the top for Watkins, he surged forward beyond William Saliba before angling a low strike past Aaron Ramsdale.

Yet the Gunners were level within 11 minutes as Saka rifled a powerful effort beyond Martínez from 12 yards.

An engaging encounter flowed from end to end as both sides looked to regain superiority.

And it was Villa who did just that courtesy of a superb team move in the 31^st minute.

Boubacar Kamara found an overlapping Moreno down the left wing and he squared the ball across the box, Emi Buendía stepped over it and left for Coutinho to coolly pick his spot and send Ramsdale the wrong way.

The home side maintained their advantage until the break, with Arsenal pressing strongly for an equaliser immediately after the restart.

Nketiah sent a header against the top of the crossbar in the 56^th minute and, moments later, they were level as Zinchenko drilled low into the bottom corner from 20 yards following a short corner.

Nketiah clipped over having been sent clean through as Emery turned to Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey and Leander Dendoncker off the bench.

Martin Odegaard, with time and space on his side, sent wide a gilt-edged opportunity from 14 yards in the 77^th minute after Nketiah pounced on a defensive error.

Villa duo Lucas Digne and Jhon Durán were introduced shortly afterwards, with Bailey then seeing his effort pushed on to the crossbar by a fantastic reaction save from Ramsdale.

Both sides went toe-to-toe in search of a winner but, just as it appeared set to finish all square, Arsenal broke Villa hearts as they found the net twice in injury time to cruelly leave the hosts without reward.