Aston Villa Guns Down Arsenal as Chelsea were held to a Goalless Draw
By Tanko Bauka
Aston Villa have cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the English Barclays Premier League down to two, beating the Gunners 2-1 at Villa Park in a high-tempo and precision football match.
Arsenal went into the tricky encounter with injuries crisis as two of their reliable centre back Gabriel Magalhaes and Williams Saliba as well as the backup centre back Christian Mosquera were all missing in action but take that not away from Aston Villa as the Unai Emery boys really went for the three points at stake, forcing Arsenal into multiple mistakes and at the same time dictating the pace of the game.
The absence of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba could be visibly noticeable, as Ben White, Jurrien Timber, and Piero Hincapie struggle to cope with the pace of Aston Villa’s attacking line, led by Ollie Watkins, Roger Morgan, John McGinn, and Youri Tielemans.
Villa Park has always been a challenging place for teams in the top flight of the English Barclays Premier League, especially Arsenal, which has yet to have the better of Aston Villa in their backyard.
Aston Villa are just three points behind the league leader and Manchester City, which remarkably dispatched Sunderland, and now just two points behind Arsenal.
Chelsea hoping to bounce back after the 3-1 defeat against Leeds United, visited AFC Bournemouth and failed to click as they were held to a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium.
Everton continued their impressive form with a comfortable 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest, with Tottenham Hotspur putting behind them all the negativity and defeating Brentford 2-0 to ease the pressure on the head coach, Thomas Frank.
Newcastle United beat Burnley 2-1 at Saint James Park, while Leeds United denied Liverpool FC victory, playing out a three-all draw.
Brighton and Hove Albion and West Ham United played out a one-all draw to share the points, while Crystal Palace piped Fulham 2-1 to run away with all three points.
In the Spanish La Liga, FC Barcelona beat Real Betis 5-3 in an eight-goal thriller to open up a four-point gap between their arch-rival Real Madrid, which suffered a shock home defeat to Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu in a tension-soaked encounter that saw two of Xabi Alonso’s boys sent off against the visitors.
Villarreal continue their impressive form as they dispatched Gatafe 2-0, while Valencia could only manage a one-all draw with Sevilla, as Athletic Bilbao inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Atletico Madrid as they continued their rebuilding process.
Deportivo Alaves defeated Real Sociedad 1-0, and Espanyol also piped Rayo Vallacano 1-0, with Real Oviedo and Mallorca playing out a drab goalless draw.
In the Italian Serie A, Napoli have reclaimed the top spot after defeating Juventus 2-1 at the Diego Maradona stadium, while Inter Milan demolished Cesc Fabregas Como 4-0, as Sassuolo further compounded the woes of Fiorentina with a 3-0 defeat.
Cremonese defeated Lacce 2-0 while AS Roma lost 1-0 to Cagliari as Hellas Verona silenced Ademola Lookman at Atalanta 3-1.
In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich are still riding high as they kept their one hundred percent record intact with a comfortable 5-0 demolition of Stuttgart, while Bayer Leverkusen were beaten 2-0 by FC Augsburg.
Heidenheim wins 2-1 against SC Freiburg as Union Berlin were beaten 3-1 by Wolfsburg, while RB Leipzig hammered Eintracht Frankfurt 6-0, with Borussia Dortmund defeating Hoffenheim 2-0.
Results across Europe
English Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa 2- Arsenal 1
Newcastle United 2- Burnley 1
Tottenham 2- Brentford 0
Manchester City 3- Sunderland 0
Everton 3- Nottingham 0
AFC Bournamount 0- Chelsea 0
Leeds United 3- Liverpool 3
Brighton Albion 1- West Ham 1
Fulham 1- Crystal Palace 2
Spanish La Liga
Real Oviedo 0- Mallorca 0
Villarreal 2- Gatafe 0
Deportivo 1- Real Sociedad 0
Real Betis 3- FC Barcelona 5
Athletic Bilbao 1- Atletico Madrid 0
Elche 3- Girona 1
Valencia 1- Sevilla 1
Espanyol 1- Rayo Vallacano 0
Real Madrid 0- Celta Vigo 2
Italian Serie A
Sassoulo 3- Fiorentina 1
Inter Milan 4- Como 0
Hellas Verona 3- Atalanta 1
Cremonese 2- Lacce 0
Cagliari 1- AS Roma 0
Lazio 1- Bologna 1
Napoli 2- Juventus 1
German Bundesliga
Mainz 05 0- Monchenglabach 1
Koln 1- FC St Pauli 1
FC Augsburg 2- Leverkusen 0
Heidenheim 2- SC Freiburg 1
Wolfsburg 3- Union Berlin 1
Stuttgart 0- Bayern Munich 5
RB Leipzig 6- Frankfurt 0
Hamburger 3- Werder Bremen 2
Dortmund 2- Hoffenheim 0
