Unai Emery says he is ashamed of the last goal that Aston Villa received against Arsenal (2-4). The team from Birmingham seemed to be on its way to a point against the Premier League leader for a long time, but two late goals threw a spanner in the works. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez scored an unfortunate own goal in stoppage time and in an attempt to make it 3-3, the Argentinian went forward for a corner kick. That led to the decisive 2-4. Emery is ashamed of the fourth goal against. “I have never told my keeper to go forward.”
Ollie Watkins put Villa ahead, before Bukayo Saka equalized. Phlippe Coutinho gave the home team the lead again and Oleksandr Zinchenko put in the second half the Gunners level again. It seemed to stay that way for a long time. In stoppage time, however, a shot by Jorginho hit the crossbar, after which the ball rolled over the goal line via Martínez’s body. Because the goalkeeper then wanted to make up for his ‘mistake’, Arsenal was given free rein to make it 2-4 through Gabriel Martinelli. “I’m ashamed of the last goal,” Emery said in conversation with the BBC. “I never told my goalkeeper to come forward. We have to keep our minds free and be smart.”
What an important moment for Arsenal, who still take the three points against Aston Villa ????
Jorginho’s shot goes over the crossbar and Martínez’s head into the goal! ??#ViaplaySportNL #ViaplayFootball pic.twitter.com/loC88RU06e
— Viaplay Sport Netherlands (@viaplaysportnl) February 18, 2023
“Today he himself decided to go forward,” the former Arsenal manager continues. “It was his decision. He knows it now.” Emery saw that his team was not always convincing. “We have to keep doing what we are doing. We have to gain confidence, but sometimes you have to make mistakes to improve. Don’t make a mistake and then repeat it again. Before the game we were very happy with how the team worked this week how we prepared for the game, but during the game we only played well sometimes,” Emery ends with a critical note.
Staying through the defeat the Villains rank eleventh in the Premier League. It is the third game in a row that Emery’s team loses, after previously falling against Leicester City (2-4) and Manchester City (3-1). Opponent Arsenal, on the other hand, has an excellent weekend. After the late victory over Villa Park, Manager Mikel Arteta’s side saw title contenders Manchester City get stuck at 1-1 at Nottingham Forest. Arsenal are now two points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s team. In addition, the Londoners have played a game less.