Arsenal hero makes 'better than us' admission after Aston Villa hammer blow
Aston Villa beat Arsenal on Sunday thanks to goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins - and this former striker admitted the Gunners were short in their efforts
by Joseph Chapman, https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/authors/joseph-chapman/ · Birmingham LiveArsenal great Ian Wright admits that Aston Villa were simply 'better than us' after watching the Lions see off the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening. Villa struck late with goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins to both damage Arsenal's hopes of winning the Premier League and also significantly strengthening their own hopes of finishing in the top four - particularly considering Tottenham's defeat on Saturday lunch-time.
Villa were good value for the win. Having seen off Lille 2-1 in the first leg of their Europa Conference League quarter final tie at Villa Park on Thursday night, and despite being without a host of important players including Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara, they grew stronger as the game went on and made the breakthrough through substitute Bailey, before Watkins rounded things off.
While Arsenal had a challenging European tie themselves on Tuesday against Bayern Munich, Wright - who scored 185 goals in 288 appearances for Arsenal between 1991 and 1998 - conceded that Villa had had similar hurdles to overcome - and therefore Mikel Arteta's side had few excuses when it came their schedule.
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"Villa the braver team," he tweeted. "Great performance. Loads of injuries, midweek games, better than us in everything. Unrecognisable Arsenal in that second half."
Arsenal, aside from Watkins' striking of the post, were largely the better team in the first half, but Emiliano Martinez was equal to anything thrown his way. Villa might've nudged themselves in front before they did take the lead, but Youri Tielemans' effort bounced off the bar, then off the post and away from the goal. Bailey and Watkins ensured three points in the final ten minutes.