Ollie Watkins scored twice as Aston Villa claimed an impressive victory against Arsenal and moved up to sixth in the Premier League.
Arsenal were left stunned after Aston Villa produced a shock upset with a convincing 3-0 win at the Emirates.
The hosts had a dream start after finding the back of the net after just 47 seconds but it was eventually ruled out after a VAR review.
The visitors took the lead midway through the first half when Bukayo Saka turned Matt Targett’s cross into his own net.
Watkins, who scored a hat-trick in a 7-2 win against champions Liverpool earlier this season, made it 2-0 against Arsenal with a header towards the end of the second half. All hopes of a comeback were dashed when Villa’s record signing scored his second soon after, slotting the ball under Bernd Leno after a quick break.
Arsenal had gone into this game looking to build on their impressive 1-0 win against Manchester United last time out. Despite dominating possession they created very little, with Alexandre Lacazette going closest when he headed over Kieran Tierney’s cross.
Instead, it was Villa who always looked the most likely to score and they could have won by an even bigger margin.
The defeat leaves an inconsistent Arsenal 11th in the table while the win maintained Villa’s 100% away record so far this season.
Player ratings
Arsenal: Leno (6) Holding (6), Gabriel (6), Tierney (6), Bellerin (7), Elneny (6), Partey (6), Saka (6), Willian (5), Aubameyang (6), Lacazette (6)
Aston Villa: Martinez (6) Konsa (7), Mings (7), Targett (6), Douglas (7), Matty (7) McGinn (7), Barkley (7), Trezeguet (6), Grealish (7), Watkins (8),
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