Arsenal earn high praise after vital win at Villa

Villa Park was emptying at a rate of knots. All except a vocal corner, still fully populated by Arsenal fans.

The players they serenaded gathered in front of them, Bukayo Saka seeing a sign asking for his shirt and obliging. Granit Xhaka and Ben White also left the field topless, having provided supporters with souvenirs as they celebrated a victory whose importance was very evident.

“It was a big one,” said Mikel Arteta, but Arsenal may soon have rather more to celebrate. Four points clear of fifth place, still with a game in hand, they can start to see the Champions League looming on the horizon.

A sixth triumph in seven league games assumed bigger proportions after Wednesday’s loss to Liverpool but this week will not derail their season. Instead, Arsenal displayed the substance they have sometimes lacked, following a stylish start with a display of solidity.

“The team showed a lot of personality,” added Arteta after Arsenal chalked up five consecutive away league wins for the first time since 2015. “They are showing character, courage and quality. When we dominate like we did today we have to score the second and the third.”

The one they did get stemmed from their own, and it often does. Saka’s 10th goal of the season made him the joint top scorer with another academy product, Emile Smith Rowe. Five of them have come in his last five away league games and if the homegrown heroes can be symbolic scorers, they have also had a transformative effect.

Saka’s goal was Arsenal’s 2000th in the Premier League. It was no classic, but it might be invaluable. His low shot was neither the cleanest connection or headed for the corner of the net but, left partly unsighted by a mass of bodes in the box, Emi Martinez was unable to