Aston Villa Stun Arsenal As Premier League Title Race Takes New Twist

The Premier League title is out of Arsenal’s hands after a crushing 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa on Sunday, leaving Manchester City with two points clear with just six games to go.

Just hours after Liverpool saw their own hopes take a big hit with a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace, Arsenal fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa after a late goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins capped a superb performance from the visitors, who climb back above Tottenham into fourth place in the race for the UEFA Champions League.

Arsenal had much the better of a goalless first half, without creating too many clear chances, but were thoroughly outplayed in the second.

Villa’s goals came late, with Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins scoring in the 84th and 87th minutes. Watkins also hit the post in the first half, while Youri Tielemans walloped a curling shot against the post and bar.

Arsenal’s best chance fell to Leandro Trossard just before half-time, when the former Gunners keeper Emi Martinez made a stunning save with his right foot.

The Gunners played some bright football in the first half, with Martin Odegaard superb, but were regularly thwarted by an admirable Villa defensive performance.

They set their sights higher after the break, controlling the tempo of the game to make the home crowd increasingly nervous.

Everyone at the Emirates knew that even a 0-0 draw wasn’t really good enough for Arsenal and it get a whole lot worse.