Arsenal Finishes with 10 Men, Still Finishes Aston Villa

Maybe this is Arsenal's problem:

Manager Unai Emery actually said that 18th-placed Aston Villa was a good and organized team.

Low bar, dude.

The only surprise at the Emirates Stadium was it took a late goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to dispatch the Villains, 3-2.

Yes, the Gunners were a man down for half the match, but so what? They yielded one goal with a full squad and one with the manpower deficit.

 

A hint of things to come appeared early. That's when Ainsley Maitland-Niles received his first yellow card for tripping Anwar El Ghazi.

After that moment of preoccupation, it was clear that Arsenal was the better team. However, it was Villa who opened the scoring. In the 20th minute, John McGinn drifted into the box totally unmarked and glanced El Ghazi's cross into the bottom corner:

 

Things got worse for the Gunners when Maitland-Niles saw his second yellow -- in the 41st minute, to less ...

 

... indeed, a short memory. So off he went.

Down to 10 men, the Gunners went into the second half as if nothing happened. After all, this is Arsenal. Defenders are optional.

 

VAR figured prominently in their results.

In the 58th, after an unnecessary mark, the referee confirmed a penalty on Matteo Guendouzi, which Nicolas Pépé converted for his first Arsenal goal:

 

But the home fans' happiness didn't last, not even for two minutes.

Inthe 60th, Jack Grealish ran into Arsenal's final third, picked up Wesley Moraes at the near post with a superb cross, and the No 9 showed great composure to just get to the ball ahead of Bernd Leno and put Villa back in the lead:

 

Undaunted, the Gunners kept gunning.

The equalizer came with Calum Chamber in the 81st. Dude took possession after a poor clear from Villa's defenders and poked it into the top corner:

 

The coup de grace came three minutes later, with a terrific strike from Aubameyang.

Arsenal's top scorer stepped up for a free-kick, elevated it over the Villains' wall and into the bottom-right corner. Tom Heaton didn't even move:

 

With the victory, the Gunners move into fourth place -- with 11 points -- and are just two points outta second.

Villa remains in a dark place, where mushrooms grow and the Championship tier looms.