Martinelli’s winner keeps Arsenal’s perfect start to Premier League season

LONDON: Arsenal maintained their perfect start to the season and their spot at the top of the Premier League table, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring a second-half winner in a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Martinelli let the ball take a short bounce in the area from a Bukayo Saka cross and the Brazilian struck it high into the net to beat Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the 77th minute.

“That’s the mentality that we want to show as a team and the character that we want to show to react immediately after disappointment,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.

The goal canceled out a bizarre equalizer for Villa only three minutes earlier when Douglas Luiz took a corner and the ball curled in without anyone touching it to get the visitors back into the match.

Jesus opened the scoring in the first half, poaching a goal in the 30th after Martinelli flew down the left wing and passed to midfielder Granit Xhaka, whose cross deflected off a defender and toward Martínez.

The former Arsenal keeper weakly palmed the ball straight into the path of Jesus, who couldn’t have had an easier tap-in.

“He’s a beast, he’s everywhere on the pitch,” Martinelli said of Jesus, his fellow Brazilian.

The win means Arsenal are the only team in the league with a a full 15 points from five matches. The Arsenal fans have provided an electrifying atmosphere inside the Emirates so far this season, and the players have been feeding off it.

“When you play in front of this crowd, that helps, because the energy that they generate is just amazing,” Arteta said.

Villa manager Steven Gerrard, on the other hand, is under intense pressure already, with four defeats in five matches.

Arsenal should have put this one away much earlier after