Arsenal v Aston Villa player ratings: Odegaard 8, Jesus 7; Kamara 8, Konsa 4

Gunners maintain perfect start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 win at Emirates

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  ARSENAL RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale 5/10 - Fairly comfortable evening for the Arsenal shot-stopper who was seldom tested. However, got himself into a horrible position which led to the Villa equaliser. Must be stronger when commanding his area. Action Images

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  Kieran Tierney 7 - Enjoyed himself going forward and was competent with his defensive duties. A solid showing from the Scottish full-back. Reuters

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  Gabriel Magalhaes 8 - Looked excellent throughout. Won his aerial duels and looked assured playing out from the back. Really impressive. Getty

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  William Saliba 6 - Looked exposed on occasion and was probably the weak link in the Arsenal defence. Has enjoyed a fantastic start to the season, but struggled to deal with Watkins. Will be interesting to see how he fares against more physical strikers. AP

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  Ben White Ben White 6 - Comfortable night for White who did his defensive duties well. Did not have quite the same influence when going forward, but did not really put a foot wrong. AP

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  Granit Xhaka 7 - Played an important role in the opener, and controlled the midfield well. Xhaka’s array of passing was on show and he looked to excel in the middle alongside Lokonga. Looks to enjoy his more advanced role under Arteta. EPA

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  Albert Sambi Lokonga 7 - Injuries to Elneny and Partey saw Lokonga thrown into the action, and he did not look out of place at all. Complimented Xhaka very nicely in midfield. EPA

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  Gabriel Martinelli 8 - Looked a threat throughout. Bagged the winner as Arsenal did not let their heads drop following the equaliser. Could have had more, but was kept at bay on a couple of occasions by Martinez. Impressive performance and constantly buzzed around. AP

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  Bukayo Saka 6 - Struggled in the final third, but his cross saw the Gunners get themselves back ahead. Should have got himself on the scoresheet, but no one can fault the Englishman’s effort. Always pressing defences. Getty

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  Martin Odegaard 8 - Ran the show. Such a joy to watch the Norwegian when he plays like this. Had the visitors in his palm until he was forced off with injury. AP

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  Gabriel Jesus 7 - Opened the scoring and looked dangerous in the first-half. Found chances more few and far between in the second-half as Arsenal struggled to create as much. Getty

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  SUBS: Takehiro Tomiyasu (White 64') 6 - Did not have much of an impact, but helped Arsenal secure the win. Reuters

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  Emile Smith Rowe (Odegaard 81') N/A - Did his job as Arsenal managed to hold on for the three points. EPA

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  Rob Holding N/A (Saka 88') - Helped the Gunners over the line with Villa pressing for an equaliser. Reuters

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  Eddie Nketiah (Jesus 88') N/A - Came on late with the hosts trying to close out the game. Did his job as he helped run the clock down with smart solo runs. PA

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  ASTON VILLA RATINGS: Emiliano Martinez 6 - A mixed bag for the Villa goalkeeper. Made a top save to keep Martinelli at bay, but a deflection caught out the shot-stopper which led to the opener. Does look to have a mistake in him. Action Images

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  Matty Cash 5 - Struggled against Martinelli and strangely backed off the Brazilian in dangerous situations. Got forward on occasion and looked threatening when he did. AP

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  Ezri Konsa 4 - Did not have a good evening. Jesus found it far too easy against Konsa who looked very exposed against Arsenal’s forwards. AP

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  Tyrone Mings 6 - Looked to have struggled early on, but found a way to give some much-needed organisation to a Villa defence that was ran ragged for the majority of the evening. EPA

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  Lucas Digne 5 - Fairly anonymous going forward, but did keep Saka quiet for most of the encounter. EPA

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  Jacob Ramsey 5 - Struggled to influence the game. Arsenal found it very easy to bypass the youngster who could not keep up with the pace of the game. Getty

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  Boubacar Kamara 8 - Another promising performance from Kamara who continuously won the ball back and started Villa attacks. Was a bright-spark for the visitors midfield which looked disjointed. EPA

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  John McGinn 6 - Did not disappoint with his trademark tough-tackling, but seldom ventured forward. Defensive duties were done well, however, offered very little going forward which led to rare chances for the visitors. AP

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  Leon Bailey 5 - Looked threatening until he got into the final third where his final ball let him down constantly. Arsenal’s defence managed to keep him relatively quiet. EPA

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  Ollie Watkins 7 - Strangely Arsenal’s defence found it difficult to deal with Watkins - despite the Englishman having very little service or chances. Saliba, in particular, looked exposed. Did admirably with such little service. Getty

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  Emiliano Buendia 8 - Was a constant threat, which was impressive due to Villa struggling to get forward. Always getting himself about, and was a good outlet when Steven Gerrard’s side had rare spells of attacking dominance. PA

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  SUBS: Philippe Coutinho (Buendia 73') 5 - Offered little threat and was not able to pull Villa level in the last 10 minutes. Getty

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  Douglas Luiz (McGinn 73') 7 - Made an instant impact, with his corner evading everyone to find the back of the net. However, could not help his team from conceding minutes later. PA

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  Danny Ings (Kamara 73') N/A - Could not help Villa restore parity. Had limited chances in his cameo. EPA

Gabriel Jesus’s predatory instincts and a left-foot finish from Gabriel Martinelli earned Arsenal a 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Wednesday as the Gunners kept up their 100 per cent start to the Premier League season.

The Brazilian pair scored either side of the break to give Arsenal a deserved victory after they dominated the match, advancing to a maximum 15 points from five matches.

Jesus opened the scoring in the 31st minute and Martinelli grabbed the 77th-minute winner, three minutes after Villa had equalised through substitute Douglas Luiz who scored directly from a corner.

Villa’s fourth defeat in five games added to the mounting pressure on manager Steven Gerrard.

Arsenal had several early chances before Granit Xhaka’s effort from a tight angle was fumbled by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and snapped up by Jesus who scored from close range.

Martinez made up for the slip with a stunning save on the stroke of halftime from Martinelli’s rasping shot and soon after the break he denied a similar effort from home captain Martin Odegaard.

Villa’s attacking effort were negligible until Leon Bailey forced a corner with a 73rd-minute shot, allowing Luiz to whip it directly into the net from the set-piece.

The goal was checked as Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale tangled with Boubacar Kamara as the corner was taken and found himself stuck behind the Villa attacker and unable to deal with the in-swinging effort. VAR found no infringement to give Villa hope of a much-needed point as they flounder near the foot of the table.

But Arsenal wasted no time in restoring their advantage with a long ball down the left to set Martinelli on his way for the winner. He played the ball inside before Bukayo Saka whipped it back across the goal for Martinelli to finish with aplomb.

Arsenal take their unbeaten record to Old Trafford to meet Manchester United on Sunday while there is little breathing room for Gerrard and his beleaguered side who host champions Manchester City on Saturday.

Rajan Hothi provides the player ratings in the photo gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.