Aston Villa v Arsenal player ratings: Mings 5, Coutinho 7; Saka 8, Jorginho 8

Gunners claim thrilling last-gasp win at Villa Park

ASTON VILLA RATINGS: Emiliano Martinez - 5, Made some brilliant claims but his match will be remembered for Jorginho’s strike going in off his head after hitting the crossbar. Reuters

Matty Cash - 7, Did brilliantly to dispossess Oleksandr Zinchenko and pick out Ollie Watkins for the opening goal. Put in a lot of good defensive work, including a great tackle on Gabriel Martinelli as he threatened to run through. PA

Ezri Konsa - 6, Some great interventions but got away with losing the ball to Eddie Nketiah and was left helpless at times. Reuters

Tyrone Mings - 5, Some smart blocks and interventions but his poor attempt at a clearance fell to Bukayo Saka for his goal. AFP

Alex Moreno - 7, Was aggressive in dealing with Saka and largely did well against him. He also played in the ball for Philippe Coutinho’s goal. Reuters

John McGinn - 7, Put in a lot of selfless work, including a great tackle on Leandro Trossard. Hit a shot from range that was easily saved after working space for himself well. PA

Douglas Luiz - 7, While his shooting was a bit wasteful, the Brazilian put in a whole host of good defensive work, including blocks to deny Granit Xhaka and Zinchenko. AFP

Boubacar Kamara - 7, Was integral in the build-up to the first goal and battled well in midfield. AFP

Emiliano Buendia - 6, Showed good intent throughout, even if the quality of his passing didn’t always match that, as was evident when he overhit a pass to Watkins. Stepped over Moreno’s pass to set up Coutinho’s goal and also put in a lot of good defensive work. AFP

Philippe Coutinho - 7, Scored with a great reverse finish for Villa’s second and also put in some good defensive work. PA

Ollie Watkins - 8, Beat Saliba easily for the opener and continued to put in brilliant work, holding up the ball and making things as difficult as possible for Arsenal’s defenders. Got a toe on Aaron Ramsdale’s pass. PA

SUBS: Jacob Ramsey (Coutinho, 62’) - 6, Put in a great tackle on Martinelli and found Jhon Duran for the striker’s chance. Reuters

Leon Bailey (Buendia, 67’) - 6, Showed good intent but was denied by a great tackle from Gabriel, then an even better save from Ramsdale. Getty

Leandro Dendoncker (Luiz, 67’) - 5, Was unable to have the same impact in midfield as the man he replaced. AP

Jhon Duran (Watkins, 78’) – N/R, A promising opening after being played through by Ramsey but couldn’t find the finish. Lucas Digne (Moreno, 78’) – N/R. PA

ARSENAL RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale - 7, Made a superb save to tip Bailey’s shot onto the woodwork at a vital time in the game. Reuters

Ben White - 6, Was taken out of the game far too easily for Villa’s second but created plenty of problems for Unai Emery’s defence with one cross leading to Saka’s goal and another setting up Eddie Nketiah’s chance. Reuters

William Saliba - 6, Was very passive to be beaten by Watkins for the opener. However, he then dealt with Martinez’s long ball well and held off Watkins in the second half. AP

Gabriel Magalhaes - 7, Moved the ball well and put in a fantastic tackle to halt Bailey in the box at a vital time in the game EPA

Oleksandr Zinchenko - 7, Lost the ball in the build-up to the opener but more than redeemed himself with a brilliant strike. Was typically determined. EPA

Martin Odegaard - 7, Had a quiet first half and wasted a brilliant opening, but he got into great positions in the second half and played the pass to set up Zinchenko’s goal. AP

Jorginho - 8, Was positive with his passing throughout, playing the ball in front of White in the build-up to the equaliser, and his ambitious strike hit the crossbar and bounced off Martinez to trickle into the net. Getty

Granit Xhaka – 6, Was too slow on the ball at times but showed good energy and had a shot from the edge of the box blocked. EPA

Bukayo Saka - 8, Finished superbly for Arsenal’s first of the game and, despite struggling physically for large periods, he continued to pose problems. Booked for pushing Coutinho. PA

Eddie Nketiah - 6, Was weak in the first half and let himself down with a poor touch on the edge of the box. In the second half, he hit the crossbar with a header, had shots blocked, dinked an effort off target, then saw his work to dispossess Konsa wasted by a poor finish from Odegaard. AP

Leandro Trossard - 5, Tried to make things happen but often found himself being well marshalled by Cash. Getty

SUBS: Gabriel Martinelli (Trossard, 68’) - 7, Brought some extra life to Arsenal’s play from the moment he was introduced and ran through to score the final goal. Getty

Fabio Vieira (Xhaka, 79’) – N/R, Selflessly played the ball through to Martinelli as the Brazilian scored the game’s final goal. PA

Takehiro Tomiyasu (White, 79’) – N/R, Did well defensively but saw a potentially threatening cross blocked by Mings. EPA

Rob Holding (Odegaard, 96’) – N/R. Kieran Tierney (Zinchenko, 96’) – N/R. Getty

Danny Lewis

Arsenal earned victory in dramatic fashion as an own goal from Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in stoppage-time helped them to a crucial 4-2 victory on Saturday.

With just minutes left at Villa Park, Mikel Arteta's side were in danger of stumbling again in their bid to win the title for the first time since 2004.

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Arsenal fight back to clinch thrilling victory at Aston Villa

Arsenal had twice trailed to goals from Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho, only for Bukayo Saka and then Oleksandr Zinchenko to haul them level.

But they received a helping hand from their former keeper as Martinez inadvertently deflected Jorginho's shot into his own net after it hit the bar in stoppage-time.

Gabriel Martinelli capped Arsenal's remarkable escape with a goal in the final seconds to lift the Londoners' title hopes.

Player ratings from Villa Park can be seen in the gallery above. To view the next image, just swipe.

Updated: February 18, 2023, 3:36 PM