The Gunners were facing a former manager for the first time since beating George Graham’s Tottenham Hotspur in March 2001, and in desperate need of a similar result after suffering defeat against Manchester City, they got off to the worst possible start against Unai Emery’s Villans.
Matty Cash dispossessed Oleksandr Zinchenko and picked out Ollie Watkins, who beat William Saliba and struck across Aaron Ramsdale for his fourth goal in as many games.
Mikel Arteta’s side responded well and equalised on the quarter-hour mark when Tyrone Mings’ awkward attempt at clearing Ben White’s cross fell to Bukayo Saka, who capitalised to hit an unstoppable thunderbolt past Emiliano Martinez for his 10th goal in all competitions this season.
However, Villa took the lead again just after the half-hour mark, as Emiliano Buendia showed superb awareness to step over Alex Moreno’s low cross, and Philippe Coutinho did the rest as he fooled Ramsdale with a reverse finish to mark his first league start under Emery with a goal.
Arsenal re-emerged from the break looking more determined than ever to take something back down south, and eventually got their reward on the hour mark when a short corner routine ended with a pinpoint finish from Zinchenko for the Ukraine international’s first Gunners goal.
Having largely been quiet beforehand, Martin Odegaard played the pass for that goal and released Eddie Nketiah soon after, although the striker couldn’t provide the finishing touch after racing through. The Norwegian then missed a glorious opportunity, dragging his shot wide after Nketiah had dispossessed Ezri Konsa and teed him up.
Every title push needs a slice of luck somewhere along the road, and Arsenal will feel they earned theirs as Jorginho’s ambitious effort struck the crossbar, hit Martínez’s head and trickled into the back of the net.
Martinelli then rounded off the scoring as the Gunners ended their four-game winless streak and reclaimed top spot ahead of Manchester City’s match with Nottingham Forest.
Meanwhile, Villa suffered their third consecutive defeat in heartbreaking fashion.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
