Birmingham (Reuters)
Aston Villa achieved a record at the club level, with its 15th consecutive victory at home, in the English Premier League, with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal, in an exciting match, to prevent coach Mikel Arteta’s team from returning to the top spot.
Aston Villa, which stunned Manchester City 1-0 on Wednesday, occupies third place with 35 points from 16 matches, while Arsenal occupies second place with 36 points, after Liverpool overtook them in the lead with 37 points.
“I forbid talking about the title. It’s round 16, so there’s still a long way to go, and we respect the teams that came before us and were in this position,” McGinn told Sky Sports, laughing, in response to a question about whether Aston Villa was among the title contenders. For years, we have been new, can we continue at the same pace? I hope so”.
Aston Villa coach Unai Emery also seemed cautious when talking about his team’s chances.
He said, “I will speak when we are in the 30th or 32nd round, and if we are in the same situation as we are now, I will be able to talk” about the title race.
The only goal of the match was scored by John McGinn in the seventh minute, after a run by Leon Bailey from the right side, before he passed it to the Aston Villa captain, who received the ball well, before turning to face the goal, and in the meantime, he shot it into the net.
Arsenal thought they had equalized in stoppage time, but the referee disallowed the goal, after reviewing the video assistant referee found that Kai Havertz touched the ball with his hand, before shooting it past Emi Martinez after confusion in front of the goal, and the happy Aston Villa fans sang after the end of the game. the match.
Emery said that he had never achieved 15 consecutive wins on his team’s field during his coaching career.
The former Arsenal coach added, “I think I will never achieve it again in the future. It is amazing and wonderful.”
“Well, it’s a great place to play football, when the fans support you like that,” McGinn said of the club’s home record. “Playing here is difficult for visiting teams. I remember that Arsenal was the last competitor to beat us here, and that match definitely shocked us, so the victory was like revenge.”
He added, “May this journey continue for a long time, and if we maintain our brilliance on our home field, we hope that we will be able to achieve something this season.”
Arsenal had several opportunities to equalize, and Martin Odegaard wasted a number of them. The Norwegian player fired a low shot that missed the goal, and another directly towards the goalkeeper in the first half. After the break, he seemed upset, after wasting another opportunity from close range.
Bukayo Saka beat Martinez to put the ball into an empty net in the 61st minute, but the referee canceled the goal due to offside.
Arteta said, “I think we were the better team and did not deserve to lose, but it is football. We had to put the ball in the net, and this is the only thing we lacked, because we created some great chances, but despite that we lost the match.”
Arteta, whose team lost after four consecutive victories, watched the match from the stands after being suspended for one match after receiving his third yellow card this season.
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