Watkins scores twice as vibrant Villa stun Arsenal

Aston Villa returned to successful methods in gorgeous vogue as Ollie Watkins scored twice in a 3-Zero away thumping of an abject Arsenal in drizzly north London on Sunday.

The guests had already seen a John McGinn aim dominated out for a harsh offside choice when Bukayo Saka, underneath strain from Trezeguet, put into his personal aim after 25 minutes.

Villa went up a gear within the second half with Jack Grealish pulling the strings in midfield and it was no shock when Arsenal-fan Watkins headed dwelling within the 72nd minute.

Watkins struck once more three minutes later after a fast counter-attack to seal the factors.

Consecutive defeats to Leeds United and Southampton had halted Villa’s early-season cost however they moved again as much as sixth with 15 factors from seven video games.

Remarkably Villa have already received extra away video games this season than they managed in the entire of the final marketing campaign.

Inconsistent Arsenal are down in 11th with 12 factors after 4 wins and 4 defeats up to now.

“We’ve conceded a few goals the last couple of games and it’s how you bounce back and we’ve done that tonight,” Watkins, who signed from Brentford within the switch window, mentioned.

“You’ve seen tonight and against Liverpool, we’re a great side and we can beat anyone.”

Villa have been denied a dream begin when McGinn thumped a piledriver previous Bernd Leno however Ross Barkley was adjudged to have been within the line of sight of the keeper whereas in an offside place — referee Martin Atkinson making the choice after viewing a pitchside monitor.

Rather than present a wake-up name for Arsenal it had the alternative impact and a slick Villa took the lead when Matt Targett’s low cross was turned in by Saka, though Trezeguet was poised to attain anyway.

Willian put a good likelihood excessive over the bar for the hosts and Alexandre Lacazette ought to have finished higher with a transparent header from Kieran Tierney’s whipped cross within the 41st minute.

Villa took the sport by the scruff of the web within the second half and Leno made saves from Trezeguet and Grealish, both aspect of Dani Ceballos curling simply large for Arsenal.

Dean Smith’s aspect doubled their lead with a aim of gorgeous high quality. Douglas Luiz picked out Barkley with a raking diagonal ball and the England midfielder’s first-time volleyed cross was met by the alert Watkins to nod dwelling.

Things obtained even worse for Mikel Arteta’s aspect when Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez, previously of Arsenal, launched Grealish down the left and the midfielder scorched throughout the turf on a 50m run earlier than slipping a go to Watkins to shoot dwelling.

“The way we lost today really hurts,” mentioned Arteta, who clearly has numerous work to do if Arsenal are to be difficult for a top-four place this season.