On the Whistle: Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal - "Gunners fail to plunder open safe"

Hello guys, full time at Villa Park. Aston Villa 1, Arsenal 0. That banner behind me says Merry Christmas, but I don't feel particularly merry because Arsenal have been beaten in a game which I just feel they should not have lost. Look, credit to Aston Villa, they've beaten Man City and Arsenal, two of the major title contenders, in the space of a week. Liverpool now top. But this was a very, very different game. When Villa played City midweek, they battered them. I mean, they outshot them by something like 20 to 4. The xG was superior. They were the better side. They took the game to City and City couldn't live with it. That's what they do in these home games. This was not like that. This was a game that Arsenal controlled for the vast majority, where they really limited Aston Villa's goal scoring opportunities. And they only had a flurry late on really because Arsenal were having to overcommit to look for an equaliser. But Arsenal just didn't take advantage of their position. And this was a game in which Aston Villa played like the away team. And they're not great away from home. Their record isn't the best. And yet Arsenal still couldn't do enough to find a way past Emi Martinez. I think there's sort of two sections to this really. I think there's going to be people who are frustrated with the officiating. So I will talk about that. I'll talk about that probably afterwards. Principally, I'm frustrated with the performance. I just feel that Aston Villa were there for the taking tonight. I thought that might be the case, but I didn't expect them to be as there for the taking as they were. For long periods of that game, they looked exhausted. They looked out on their feet. That's what the Villa fans were saying. I was following how they were commentating on the game. They looked stretched and it felt inevitable that Arsenal would score and they didn't. And we had chances. I think of those opportunities for Martin Odegaard, where normally you would back him, the layoff from Gabriel Jesus. Could he have been more emphatic in his finish after that one? Another one squared across the box, I think by Kai Havertz. And sort of shades of the old Odegaard really, miscuing his finish. He's done it at Villa Park before as well. I remember him skying one there a couple of years ago. Big chances, big moments. I think more than that, more than the missed opportunities, it's the opportunities we didn't create, the shots we didn't manage to fashion. Aston Villa play this very precarious high line and I think we should give them some credit for it because they're the best at it in the Premier League. The amount of times they've caught other players offside, opposition players offside, is way ahead of any other Premier League team. And it does look a bit kamikaze, but they're really good at it. So fair play to them for that. Even so, I think with the pace of Saka, the pace of Martinelli, the pace of Jesus, the off the ball movement of Kai Havertz, the passing of the likes of Zinchenko, Rice, Odegaard, I think Arsenal should have broken that offside trap far more often than they did. And on the occasions when they did, I think they should have made more of those opportunities. That goes without saying, there was times in the game where it was reminiscent of that crazy Spurs-Chelsea game where Spurs were down to nine men and playing on the halfway line. And you thought, as soon as Chelsea figure this out, they're going to just be able to get round them. And they did and they scored four goals against nine men. And there were times maybe towards the end of the first half, start of the second half where I thought, Arsenal have cracked this. They figured out if we can get Zinchenko on the ball around the halfway line, he can just lift it over the top, Havertz will run in, Martinelli will run in and we'll score the goals we need. But we didn't. The safe was unlocked and we didn't plunder it. Yeah, it's really, really frustrating. I think obviously going behind is a bit of a disaster as early as we did. But what you're fearing at that point, knowing Asta Villa, is they're going to keep coming at you. But this was not that game because, you know, Arteta said it in the pre-game press conference, he wants to dominate all areas of the pitch. Well, Arsenal do dominate. But they just weren't good enough in that final third. And it's really annoying because there were a lot of ways Asta Villa could beat Arsenal tonight. But I didn't think it would be this way. You know, Arsenal should have won this game. I don't think we're talking about one point dropped. I think we're talking about three points dropped. This was a game against a very tied team that had an extra day's rest and should have been good enough to break down. Obviously, look, the second half, halfway through, it changes. Asta Villa make a couple of substitutions. And as it gets into that final 20 minutes, they've got something to hold on to. I think if it had been nil-nil, maybe they would have eventually cracked. But knowing, look, we've got this carrot of a second successive win over a really big club. They hung on and they did it. Let's speak about the officials then. So two major talking points in the game, I guess. One being the possible penalty on Gabriel Jesus. I have to say, having seen Liverpool on earlier in the day, I thought that would be given as a penalty. In my opinion, it would have been quite soft. But generally, I think with VAR, there's enough contact there that you see that given. From an Arsenal perspective, I'm annoyed. From a general football perspective, the contact was slight. So if it happened to another team, I'd say that's probably a good decision. But seeing as it's happened to us, I'm annoyed. And the goal, the handball goal. Well, I don't know how the referee makes that call. I don't know how he can possibly see that. And part of me thinks if the goal had been given, it probably wouldn't have been overturned. However, the ref did make the on-field call. And I think he got it right. I don't know how he got it right. But he spotted a handball from Kai Havertz. And when you look at the video replay, the ball touches his hand. I hesitate to call it handball. The ball touches his hand. But the rules say, the laws say, if the ball touches your hand in a goal-scoring action, the goal will not stand. I know that some people said, well, the ball touched Kash's hand first. Why is it not a goal? Weirdly, the sort of burden of proof, as far as I understand it, for an attacking player and a defending player when it comes to handball is sort of different. With a defender, it has to be a deliberate motion of the hand or should we say a hand in an unnatural position. For an attacker, it just has to strike your hand. I don't think Kai was trying to handle it. Would have been another great moment for him. I think it was another moment that demonstrated what he can offer this team, a threat at the back post. I think we would have deserved at least a point, really, for all the flaws in the performance. We were on top, we were the better side, but yeah, it wasn't to be. Sorry, there's just an alarm going off there. I'll leave it there really, guys. Individual analysis. Listen, I don't think 1-11, we had our best game. I think their goal was good. I think there's things we could have done better. We looked a bit ragged. Obviously, it's early in the game and as I say, that's really not what you want in this scenario. Just gives them something to hang on to, but they were there for the taking. Yeah, I keep thinking the cookie jar was open and we did not snack and that is a shame. Yeah, with Liverpool getting the late turnaround at Crystal Palace 2, not a great day of results. Lovely result. Old Trafford thoroughly enjoyed that, but in terms of the title race, which of course Manchester United are very much not in, not the best. I would expect City to win tomorrow as well. So the advantageous position we felt we had in midweek seems to have slightly dissipated and a hard game at Anfield to come. I mean, that's just a massive, massive game at this point in time. Not that I'm overlooking Brighton next weekend or indeed PSV. Do you know what? I am sort of overlooking PSV. We're through, we've won the group. I hope a lot of players are protected in that one. And do I think it made any difference having Mikel in the stands? Not really. I think managers feel like they're affecting things on the touchline, but probably not. He still did his pre-match team talk. He still did his half-time team talk. Curious to see what he says afterwards. I'm sure he will go with the officiating. Maybe not, given that he's waiting for an FA charge to come through. But I think there's a lot in the performance that could be criticised as well. And that's annoying. Right, I'll leave it there, guys. Bye-bye.