David Raya’s wonder save helps Arsenal to statement win over Aston Villa

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There are moments in every footballer’s life when thought stops and muscle memory kicks in. When the body takes over from the brain, and those thousands of hours of training rise to the fore. How many times in his life has David Raya fallen to the ground and jumped up again? How many times has he visualised the moment when such a reaction might be needed?
In the case of a goalkeeper, all those blows to the body and all those sessions in the gym are worth it for moments such as this. Raya was on his face on the turf, deep within his own goal, when the ball bounced off his crossbar on this trip to Villa Park. Arsenal’s defenders stood still, but Villa striker Ollie Watkins did not. Six yards out, Watkins seemingly could not miss.
It is only August, so it would be ludicrous to describe Raya’s subsequent save as a potentially defining moment in this year’s title race. But then again, this was a truly ludicrous save. The Spaniard somehow scrambled to his feet, then dived to his left, in the space of a single second. Even the home fans expressed their admiration when the replays were shown on the big screens.
“It’s a repetition of things,” said Raya. “You do drills and have to save one ball and get up to save another. This time it paid off. This is a reaction one, I don’t think it’s my best save.”
On such moments are big matches decided, and on such matches are Premier League campaigns decided. Arsenal should know that better than any team: if they had won one of their two games against Aston Villa last season, they would have won the league. Last year, they did not have a moment like this at Villa Park. This year, it was different.
If Raya’s save was the first match-changing intervention of the evening, then Leandro Trossard’s composed finish was the second. It was the Arsenal forward’s first touch of the game, having just entered the pitch as a substitute. It set Mikel Arteta’s team on their way, before Thomas Partey’s strike squeezed past Emiliano Martinez to solidify their lead.
Did the best team win? Not necessarily. Villa were powerful and dynamic, and in Morgan Rogers they had a player who continuously created panic in the opposition defence.
But Villa missed their chances, and Arsenal took theirs. Arsenal’s goalkeeper made a sensational save, and Villa’s goalkeeper allowed Partey’s shot to slip through his grasp. That was the difference. That is the difference, perhaps, between a good team and a very good one.
If Arsenal are to win the Premier League this season, then they will need to be even better than they were last year. One area of obvious improvement is in beating Villa, a task that proved beyond them in the previous campaign. This will therefore be seen as another statement victory by a team that has now won 18 of their 20 league matches of 2024 (a joint record in top-flight history).
Another pleasing statistic for those of an Arsenal persuasion: Bukayo Saka, who was heavily involved in both of Arsenal’s goals, has become the third-youngest player to reach 100 wins in the Premier League, behind Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas.
Unai Emery’s view was effectively that it was a similar game to the two meetings between these teams last season. The simmering tension between the two sides, with John McGinn and William Saliba arguing furiously in the first half, was evidence that Villa are becoming a real threat to the more established sides, especially at home.
Villa are clearly closing the gap, at an impressive rate, but they will require Watkins to be more clinical if they are to truly hurt the big boys this season. The England striker missed a huge opportunity in the first half, dragging wide of Raya’s goal after more good work by the relentless Rogers.
It felt for much of the game like Villa were the more likely to find a winner, especially when Ezri Konsa went close with a back-post volley after the break. Onana and Rogers were dominating midfield, and Leon Bailey was dangerous on the wing.
But Trossard, on as a substitute, only requires one glimpse of goal, and he had it after 67 minutes of action. Saka’s cross was deflected into his path. Trossard steered home with typical precision.
The Belgian is not Arsenal’s best dribbler, or their fastest winger. But he is probably the most deadly finisher at the club. He is also an expert at coming off the bench and instantly adapting to the pace of the game.
Arsenal had their lead but they had no intention of sitting on it. They pushed forward, searching for more, and Saka was growing in influence. The England winger’s second assist of the season was a simple pass to Partey, on the edge of Villa’s box. Martinez was beaten too easily at his near post, much to the delight of the travelling Arsenal fans. They can sense another title challenge coming.
The competition is big, we have great players in his position and you have to accept that. We are really happy with the squad we have, we are a little bit short. If we can do something we can do it but at the moment we love the ones we have, they are really, really good. 
We had to change the momentum of the game, we had a period of 10-12 minutes that we suffered in the second half and Leo has the ability to change the game. 
On whether they controlled the game…
Yeah, we did, especially because of the approach Villa had at the beginning. We were surprised. We had to pick up the pace a little bit… we created two or three big chances. Watkins has one here, a big one, and the save of David probably changed the whole game. Then we scored and changed then we controlled the game. 
It’s all the emotions as well and when you score it’s almost like you don’t know what’s happening. 
Amazing [save from Raya]. He’s saved us a couple of times today. He saved us last week as well, so credit to him… it was great that we finished it off in the end. I think everyone knows what a tough place it is to come and win a game. 
I think everyone like you said is a hero here because we work together, it’s not just me. Of course, it’s a crucial moment of the game that we are 0-0. I thought we controlled very well the game, obviously they had there chances and I was there to save Ollie’s header. 
I think of what I remember… I’m on the floor, so I try to get up, I see it looping over my head, I can’t reach it because it’s too quick and I see the rebound… I see Ollie going there… I tried to react as quickly as possibly and I put my hand there. 
Arsenal have now won 18 of their 20 league matches in 2024, which equals the top-flight record for the first 20 games of a calendar year. Liverpool did it in 1982, City did it in 2019 and 2021 (stat courtesy of Opta).
Let’s remember that nothing is won over a “calendar year”, though. 
According to Sky Sports, apparently the Arsenal fans know how crucial this victory could be coming into the final reckoning. I dunno, I reckon the next 36 games might all be important too? Still, it feels like a significant win against a side they lost to twice last year. But how significant? We are two games in to a long season, no matter the toughness of the opponents today, this game is not going to define anything.  
Arsenal weathered the Villa storm. Villa had two golden chances to go ahead when it was all square but they squandered them and Arsenal pounced. 
Villa will not do the league double over Arsenal this season but you think that they had a good chance to make it three in a row today. A close game where fine margins of Villa’s misses, Raya’s save and Arsenal’s response at a critical point that was the difference. 
Big games require big moments and Arsenal delivered those at Villa Park. Raya’s save, then Trossard’s goal. Two outstanding interventions. That was probably the difference overall.
Ross Barkley has a shot from about 25 yards out but he slices it across goal. Raya, who has just been awarded man of the match, has nothing to think about. 
Four minutes of added time. 
Arsenal will not top the table after this game if it stays as it is. They will have the same number of points as leaders Man City and Brighton who have all played two and won two so far. 
“Too s— for Arsenal” is the verdict of the away section of supporters at Villa Park. Emi Martinez knows he should have done better with Thomas Partey’s finish for the second goal. He beat his fist to the ground in frustration when it snuck in. 
Villa with another good chance. Ramsey is played through, he charges towards goal from the left half of the pitch, almost gets a shot away but Saliba is there, somehow, after sprinting back. Raya still needs to palm it away from goal which he duly does. 
Villa just getting overrun now as they seek a goal. Arsenal with the space and quite possibly the skill to get another. 
Well, that should be three. Trossard again involved with a superb, deft touch down from an overhead ball to Declan Rice. Rice then puts it back to Odegaard, free, running in and about 12 yards out when he takes the shot but the Norwegian blazes it miles over. That would have been the game but you can’t see Villa coming back from this. 
Arsenal fans sarcastically sing the name of Emi Martinez, who handed them that second goal, well-struck though Partey’s shot was. 
Lee Carsley is in the stands at Villa Park and will have been impressed with Morgan Rogers’ performance. The Villa midfielder played for Carsley in the Under-21s and has been excellent carrying the ball tonight. Carsley names his squad to face Republic of Ireland and Finland this Thursday at St George’s Park.  
It’s a shot from about 20-odd yards out. It’s well struck and down low to Martinez’s left from a fairly tight angle. He gets a hand to it but it sneaks inside the post. Saka with the assist after some excellent work from Trossard on the other side of the pitch. Martinez’s error. He should save that 19 times out of 20. If not more. 
Aston Villa 0 Arsenal 2
A few substitutions for Villa. Ramsey came on for McGinn before the goal with Watkins off for Duran. Maatsen has now replaced Digne with Barkley in Onana’s stead. 
Is this lead deserved for Arsenal? Debatable. But it doesn’t really matter. They are ahead with probably around 20 minutes of play left in the day. 
Not sure why. I’m sure they will ask him about that in the post-match interview. 
He’s not as quick as Martinelli, and he doesn’t dribble like Saka, but no one at Arsenal finishes chances quite like Leandro Trossard. Deadly.
Leondro Trossard, who has only just come on, slots home from about 12 yards out to put Arsenal ahead! 
Saka and Odegaard link up on the right. A cross comes in from the latter to Havertz from the touchline and it then deflects, via a Villa defender into space where Trossard is. He makes no mistake, sending it past Martinez to put the visitors ahead. 
Aston Villa 0 Arsenal 1
Digne takes a Villa free-kick from deep. Konsa is there at the right of the box and he side-foots it across goal and towards the far post but there is nowhere there to guide it in. It wasn’t far away from going in without any assistance, in fairness. Good game, this. 
Arsenal’s turn to waste a chance. Saka has the ball six-yards out and right in front of goal but he decides not to shoot first time over Martinez and instead loses the ball… superb ball from Odegaard from a tight space and Saka takes a touch… and then another when he probably should have shot. In any case, he was likely offside. 
That has to be an early save-of-the-season contender. David Raya was on the floor, behind his goalline, just as Ollie Watkins was making contact with the ball. How he got up to claw the header away is incredible…
An hour gone and it’s becoming an increasingly stretched game. End-to-end almost. Rogers has a shot from the edge of the box. He has gone for precision rather than power with the inside of his left boot. It is well placed but Raya touches it behind for another Villa corner. 
Onana has a free(ish) header from the corner, running in from well outside box but it is nowhere near the goal. 
Villa looking strong now. Gabriel is booked for a late challenge on Onana. The home side win a corner…
Villa very nearly ahead again but denied by a save of the highest quality from Raya. Onana, I think, has a deflected shot off the bar as Raya scrambles to make his ground. Watkins is there to head in the rebound but he is denied by the superb reactions of David Raya, getting back up from the ground and pawing away the ball with his left hand. Superb physicality to bounce back up and reactions to save it. 
It was a fantastic save but Watkins should never have let him make it in the first place. He should have gone wide of him. Poor again. 
No changes for either side at half-time, by the way. This game is becoming increasingly disjointed. Not unlike the climaxes of those El Clasico games about a decade ago when it would descend into foul after foul.
Villa’s defence again snuffs out the Arsenal attack before a break is launched on the right with Leon Bailey. Villa regroup a bit by going backwards before they go back into their own half under Arsenal’s pressing. McGinn eventually gets the ball on the left but his deflected cross is an easy take for Raya. 
Saliba fouls Watkins near the half-way line as the sunshine on the pitch at Villa Park retreats to the Villa end. 
We are back under way in the second-half. Can either side find the quality to edge ahead?
Honours even at the half. Watkins wasted a massive chance in front of goal. It was easier to score than miss. Raya even went the wrong way to help him. 
I think we can say that Arsenal were definitely the better side in the first 25 minutes or so but Villa have shaded it since. 
Rice hauls down Rogers who again bursts through Partey (who is lucky not to foul him) and he is deservedly booked. Rogers has caused Arsenal real problems in the last 20 minutes. 
Free kick to Villa about 40-odd yards out but Digne wastes it, the stray pass going to nobody in particular. Cue mad scramble for the ball. 
Six minutes of added time for a reason I cannot quite fathom. A couple of stoppages but nothing that lengthy. Anyway, this has been a pretty tight battle without the required quality in the final third for either side to go ahead. Watkins’ chance for Villa was as clear as you are likely to see and it was squandered. It has been a physical contest, too. 
Villa break with Tielemans starting the counter attack with some good ball control, before a fine pass to release Rogers (again). Arsenal then snuff out the danger before Villa enter their box with any real menace. 
A minute or so later Bailey has a go from the right corner of the box. It’s not especially well-directed or well struck. I think it’s an attempted lob but it doesn’t get over Raya in goal for Arsenal. 
Another good chance for Villa, this time as Morgan Rogers bursts through the Arsenal defence on the left. He gets a shot/cross across the goal but Raya is there to claim it at the second time of asking. 
Villa have come into the game a little more but Arsenal are slowly edging closer to a goal, it seems. Or at least they are getting into better and more dangerous positions. 
I wouldn’t say it’s only a matter of time… but just as a type that Martinelli squares a ball to Havertz at the near post on the six-yard box but he cannot get his left foot around it to direct it to goal. A good chance, squandered. 
Arsenal looking dangerous here. Rice sends in Havertz on the right who looks offside but is on, but just happens to have acres of space. Unfortunately for Arsenal it all then breaks down soon after as his cross along the ground is straight to a Villa defender. Poor. 
Down the other end of the pitch McGinn kicks the ball and it hits an Saliba and then Ben White does the same, with the ball cannoning into McGinn. The players surround the ref and it all becomes a bit unsavoury, really. 
McGinn takes a quick free-kick and releases Rogers on the left. He tries to find Watkins in the box but Saliba anticipates it and is there to intercept and launch a counter-attack. That ends with Partey taking a pot-shot from 18-yards out. It’s well struck but goes comfortably over. 
Had that gone in it would have been very much against the run of play but is exactly what Villa needed. Still, first signs of concern for Arsenal there, though it came from Gabriel falling asleep with the ball, really. 
Watkins has missed a sitter! Gabriel is dispossessed by Leon Bailey on the edge of his own box, he finds Rogers who then puts Watkins through in space about nine yards out with just Raya to beat… he misses the target, scuffing it wide with his right foot! 
What a chance this could’ve been for Ollie Watkins 😨 pic.twitter.com/UCl6zaAR1U
That is so poor. So, so poor. You’d back your centre-back to score that never mind your centre-forward…
Again, more of the same. Arsenal dominating possession and territory with Villa left to feed off scraps. It’s not like Arsenal are creating chance after chance but have been much the better side so far.
A stray pass finds Onana who marauds through the middle of the pitch before releasing Bailey on the right. Bailey passes the ball and then immediately goes down injured. Another pulled muscle? It looks like it, but I think the injury happened before, as was his slightly strange style of passing it and urgency in doing so. 
He’s writhing around on the floor and in clear pain. He might have jarred something skidding on the slippery turf at speed beforehand, looking at the replay. 
Kosta Nedeljković comes on for the injured Matty Cash. 
In the Arsenal corner there is a bit of scuffle in the six-yard box between Martinez and a few black shirts. Villa win the free-kick and take a bit of pressure off. 
Villa are just having to resist a variety of Arsenal attacks right now. Every time they look to break it doesn’t quite come off and Arsenal come at them again. 
The first real chance of the game as Odegaard slots in Saka on the right corner of the box. He wraps his left foot around it from distance but Martinez sees what Saka is trying to do and palms it the other side of the post for a corner. Good chance, good save. 
Villa have not had much of the ball in the opening passage. Martinelli dances down the left flank and sends in a cross which is overhit and Saka picks up. Villa’s Matty Cash has gone down on the touchline for some reason. Has he pulled a muscle? I think so. 
Interesting to see this Arsenal formation in possession. They do a Man City and go 3-2-4-1, with Justin Timber playing as an inverted full-back. One of his runs from central midfield saw him clash heads with Amadou Onana. 
Villa fans are booing Emi Martinez. I doubt he minds. John Percy’s interview with the Argentina goalkeeper explains how he loves being the bad guy.
Arsenal counter attack through Havertz and Martinelli on the left but the latter’s ball across the 18-yard box is misdirected. The ball comes straight back in, though with Havertz challenging Martinez for the ball but the Argentine keeper is up to the task and punches it away. 
It was a bit of a loose ball that might have otherwise led to an opportunity. 
Arsenal nearly break into the Villa box through Odegaard but Villa’s defence are equal to it and nearly break down to the Arsenal end themselves, but for a looseball. 
It sounds like a fairly raucous atmosphere at Villa Park from where I am sitting which is, admittedly, not in Villa Park. Amadou Onana has gone down after a clash with Timber in the midfield. Not sure if he took one in the chops but it looks to be a facial injury of some kind. 
We are about five minutes late to get going but get going we finally do in the West Midlands. 
Mikel Arteta is back in the technical area at Villa Park – last season he was serving a suspension and watching from the stands. Villa did the double over Arsenal last season, accounting for 40 per cent of their defeats and effectively ending their title hopes when they won at the Emirates Stadium. 
Aston Villa represents a true test to see if Arsenal are ready to challenge for the title yet again. You can back them to pull through with a win or come up short on these best betting sites.
We have had a slight delay as they are trying to sort out some communication issues between the match officials and the VAR team. 
Villa’s DJ is one of the better in the Premier League. Before Hi Ho Aston Villa and Ozzy Osbourne, this was the set-list: 
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
First about Jurrien Timber’s return. 
A lot, he was very happy with the news. It’s been a year since he has started a Premier League match. He deserves it, he’s worked so hard… and he’s got a good opportunity today. A lot of qualities that we think we are going to need. 
How can they improve from last year’s two defeats to Villa?
Play better, compete better, be more efficient. We certainly want to compete and win those kinds of matches. It’s a big opportunity today to do what we want. 
It’s going to be a very difficult match but we are very motivated to how we can start playing this season at home with our supporters. Of course, how we can test ourselves against one team being one of the favourites for the Premier League. 
Aston Villa can confirm that Finley Munroe has joined Real Unión on loan.
19-year-old Munroe made two appearances, both as substitutes, in the league and Uefa Conference League respectively last season. 
Focused on the task 🔒 pic.twitter.com/uzdxrM0vrh
Unai Emery is facing his old club today at Villa Park, not that you would know from his matchday programme notes. There is not a single reference to his 18 months at the Emirates Stadium but he did praise his successor Mikel Arteta.
“Nothing but respect from my side to this great team and club that is Arsenal FC,” he wrote. “Mikel is someone who has been brought up in a culture of hard work that shows in his approach and in his team on the pitch. They are among the best teams in the best league in the world.” 
By Ewan Harkness
Mikel Arteta will be desperate to get one over Unai Emery, after the ex-Arsenal manager did the double over his former side last season. The two losses were perhaps the most significant in crushing in Arsenal’s title dreams, as they fell just two points short of Premier League champions Manchester City. 
If Arteta’s side have any hope of winning the league this season, they cannot afford to slip up on the road again at Villa Park, in the eyes of Jamie Carragher.
Both sides opened their campaigns with three points, as Arsenal struck two unanswered goals past Wolves, and Villa edged West Ham with a 2-1 victory at the London Stadium. While Arsenal were far from their best last week, promising displays from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz will fill fans with confidence ahead of this important fixture. In east London, Amadou Onana proved his worth, opening the scoring early on and bossing the midfield all game.
Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are still out with knee injuries, with Matty Cash also a doubt after he was subbed off against West Ham due to a hamstring strain. For Arsenal, full-backs Kieran Tierney (hamstring) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) are still recovering from their respective injuries.
2-1 to Arsenal 
Villa were let off by West Ham with some big chances which Arsenal have the quality to punish them for and will just edge to victory.