Quantcast
Home   >   Match   >   [Ratings & video highlights] Villa 0-1 Arsenal

[Ratings & video highlights] Villa 0-1 Arsenal

By on March 19, 2022

Arsenal secured a vital 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at Villa Park this afternoon to tighten our grip on fourth place.

We totally dominated the first half and took a deserved lead in the 30th minute when Bukayo Saka fired home from the edge of the box to make it 1-0.

Arsenal continued to control the game but couldn’t find that killer second goal so had to withstand some late pressure from Villa. Thankfully we held on to seal an important victory that sees us extend our lead over Man Utd to four points.

Here are my ratings:

Leno  7/10 | In for the injured Ramsdale to make his first league start since August and didn’t put a foot wrong. Distribution was obviously not as strong as Ramsdale but made an important save in injury time to secure the win.

Tierney  7/10 | Quietly went about his business at the back to keep Villa at bay. Got involved going forward too.

White  7.5/10 | Assured performance from the England international. Barely gave the Villa attack a sight at goal as they had just one shot on target all game.

Gabriel  8/10 | Excellent all-round display from the Brazilian. Dominated at the back to keep Watkins quiet and made several important interceptions, headers and blocks.

Cedric  7/10 | Another solid performance from Arsenal’s stand-in right-back. Neat in possession and was solid in defence.

Partey  8/10 | Continued his superb form with another excellent performance. Bossed the midfield to break up play and instigate attacks. Lovely to watch right now.

Xhaka  7/10 | Neat and tidy in possession and linked-up well with Partey. Was somehow booked by the ref for ‘persistent fouling’ despite only making ONE FOUL all game!

bukayo saka arsenal

Smith Rowe  7.5/10 | Missed a couple of decent early chance to open the scoring but was a threat on his return to the starting eleven. Always keen to drive forward when on the ball and make things happen.

Saka  8.5/10 | Superb. Scored the winning goal with a fine finish from the edge of the box. Was Arsenal’s most dangerous player all game and put up with some rough treatment from the Villa players who were clearly targeting him.

Odegaard  7/10 | Got into some promising positions to score but wasn’t his day. Kept the ball moving and linked up play very well.

Lacazette  6/10 | Some nice interchanges in the first half but wasn’t his best game. Should have played Odegaard in to make it 2-0 and wasn’t a threat at goal.

Subs:

Pepe   6/10 | Needless late foul almost gifted Villa an equaliser. Has Leno to thank for saving Coutinho’s free-kick.

Nketiah   5/10 | Fell over twice. That’s about it.

Holding   N/A | On too late.

Here is the goal and highlights from the game: