Tyrone Mings hailed the character and resilience in Aston Villa’s ranks as they came from two goals down to claim an excellent point against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
Second-half goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins sealed a comeback fuelled by belief as Unai Emery’s side continued their impressive unbeaten start to 2025.
Tielemans went on to hit a post while Mikel Merino did likewise and Kai Havertz, who put the Gunners into a two-goal lead following Gabriel Martinelli’s opener, saw a late effort ruled out by VAR for handball.
It was a breathless second half to cap an action-packed encounter in north London.
Asked what it was like to play in, Mings told VillaTV: “It was chaotic, wasn’t it?
“I think at half-time we were accepting of the score, we were 1-0 down and hadn’t been playing our best stuff.
“We’d been defending well when we were required to.
“When you don’t have the ball, patience is a big thing, trying not to get too frustrated with the fact you don’t have it.
“Being hard to break down, being hard to beat, covering your team-mates – all the things that are going to carry us a long way into the second half of the season, and try to help give us a good platform to win games.
“I think we were okay with it at half-time, conceded another goal in the second half.
“But I think this team is full of character, this team is full of resilience.
“To come somewhere like here, go 2-0 down and still find the effort, belief and confidence to come back and draw 2-2, and have opportunities to win, is an evening’s work we can be proud of.”
None of the last 18 Premier League encounters between the two sides had previously ended all square, with this the first since 2012.
It was also the first time since 2013, ending a sequence of 52 matches, in which Villa avoided defeat in an away top-flight encounter in which they were trailing by two or more goals.
The draw leaves Unai Emery's side two points off fourth-placed Newcastle United amid a congested table, with five teams currently separated by just three points.
And the Villans will now be looking to continue their solid form as matches come thick and fast.
“I think the most important thing when you’re coming up against teams you want to be challenging in and around in the table, is to give a good account of yourselves,” said Mings.
“And to come here, be confident and know you can win the game.
“We were full of confidence going into the game that we could win.
“We had a gameplan, we stuck to it, regardless of 1-0 up, 1-0 down, 2-0 down, we stuck to it, we were together.
“It’s an evening we can be proud of but many, many things to work on.”