Two stoppage-time goals helped Arsenal earn a thrilling 4-2 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday as Mikel Arteta’s side got back on track in the race for the Premier League title.
Villa striker Ollie Watkins opened the scoring with a powerful, low finish within five minutes. Arsenal hit back shortly after through a bullet strike from winger Bukayo Saka, but Villa retook the lead later in the first half with a superb team move finished off midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
Mikel Arteta’s side pushed for an equalizer and found one near the hour mark when Oleksandr Zinchenko fired a low strike into the bottom right corner from the edge of the area.
Arsenal faced suffering a fourth consecutive Premier League game without a win but took the lead in stoppage time as January signing Jorginho’s shot from the edge of the box struck the crossbar and hit goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on the back of the head and found the net.
Martinez, the former goalkeeper for Arsenal, was cautioned earlier for wasting time and handed a yellow card.
Martinez, looking to make amends after scoring an own goal earlier, went up for a corner kick for Villa in the 98th minute.
But things went from bad to worse for him as Arsenal mounted a counterattack, which culminated with Gabriel Martinelli putting the ball into an empty net for the Gunners.
The away section erupted as the thrill of a triumph and the satisfaction of getting even with the team’s main enemy converged. After four losses in a row, this was a much-needed relief for the Arsenal squad.
