Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 0 - Report and pictures

Dean Smith’s team won’t just head to West Ham on Sunday with a chance of beating the drop, they will do so in pole position after a night when the relegation scrap took its biggest twist yet.

After Watford were beaten 4-0 by Manchester City in the early kick-off, Villa knew victory over Arsenal would be enough to take them out of the bottom three for the first time since February.

Trezeguet’s 27th minute strike duly delivered a first home win over the Gunners since December, 1998 to put Villa within sight of pulling off an escape act which looked close to impossible less than a fortnight ago.

As recently as July 11 they were seven points adrift of safety but in the space of three matches they have gobbled up the ground, this win their second on the spin at home and erasing the pain of last Thursday’s 1-1 draw at Everton, when Smith’s team had conceded a late equaliser.

There were nerves here too. Eddie Nketiah hitting a post for the visitors, while Tyrone Mings headed over his own bar as the hosts clung on in the closing stages.

But Villa also might have won more comfortably had Keinan Davis hit the target when through on goal, shortly after coming on in the second half.

The survival mission is far from complete but Smith’s team will head to the London Stadium on the back of three performances which rank among their best of the season.

The first shot of the match was not fired on the pitch but the skies above Villa Park, from Arsenal fans to their board in the form of a banner dragged from a plane which read: “Back Arteta, Kroenke Out”.

How Villa would love to have the problems of the Gunners? Their sole concern is Premier League survival and they gained fresh hope of achieving that when Trezeguet fired in his third goal in as many games.

The home side were yet to really threaten when John McGinn, twisting and turning in the opposition box, forced a corner.

Conor Hourihane’s delivery from the left got the slightest touches from Mings before heading toward Trezeguet, who smacked a firm, first-time finish inside the post.

Arsenal looked for a quick response and might have found one had Dani Ceballos, from an unmarked position on the edge of the Villa box, not fired horribly over the bar as the visitors tried to execute their own set piece routine.

It was Villa, however, who were now moving the ball around with confidence and it was Arsenal who were having to defend doggedly. The home side’s best move out of the half saw Frederic Guilbert, who had replaced the injured Ahmed Elmohamady at the first drinks break, have a low cross blocked behind.

Trezeguet had another effort on target with a header which lacked the power to trouble goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Yet the goalkeeper was sent scrambling soon after by a powerful Grealish shot which flew just past the far post after Villa had countered with menace.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta responded by introducing Granit Xhaka at half-time and the Switzerland international was involved in the move which ended with Bukayo Saka firing hurriedly over at the far post.

Ezri Konsa was then on hand to block from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at close range as the visitors finally began to find some joy in attack.

Villa went close to adding a second when Arsenal switched off at a set piece and Frederic Guilbert’s shot flicked off the leg of a defender before trickling wide with Martinez completely wrong-footed.

Arteta made more changes on the hour mark, bringing on Kieran Tierney. The latter sent Aubameyang scampering into the Villa box but after finding Konsa in his way, his cross was just out of Nketiah’s reach.

Smith made his first changes inside the final 20 minutes, bringing on Marvelous Nakamba and Davis.

The latter quickly had a big chance to double Villa’s lead after being played in by Grealish but sent his finish trickling wide of the far post.

A minute later the hosts were left breathing a huge sigh of relief when Nketiah rose to meet Nicolas Pepe’s corner and sent his header thumping against the base of the post, the ball rebounding and hitting Reina, with the goalkeeper able to pounce on it before it trickled over the line.

The match was suddenly end-to-end and it was Villa who went close again when Grealish, with an increasing presence in proceedings, found McGinn, who stepped inside before unleashing a piledriver which Martinez acrobatically kept out.

Villa nerves were jangling as the clocked ticked down. When Matt Targett conceded a free-kick on the corner of his own box, Mings headed Pepe’s delivery over his own bar with Reina nowhere.

Teams

Villa (4-3-3): Reina, Elmohamady (Guilbert 25), Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn (Lansbury 90+3), Luiz, Hourihane (Nakamba 72), Trezeguet, Samatta (Davis 72), Grealish (c) Subs not used: Hause, Jota, Vassilev, El Ghazi, Nyland (gk).

Arsenal (3-4-3): Martinez, Holding, Luiz (Pepe 60), Kolasinac, Soares (Willock 79), Torreira (Xhaka HT), Ceballos, Saka (Tierney 60), Nketiah, Lacazette, Aubameyang © Subs not used: Bellerin, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Smith, Macey (gk).