Last-Minute Heartbreak at Villa Park Hands Manchester City Hope as Gunners’ Resilience Faces Immediate Test.
Arsenal’s Premier League title ambitions suffered a dramatic and gut-wrenching blow on Saturday, as a stoppage-time winner from Aston Villa’s Emiliano Buendia ended their 11-game unbeaten run and handed the initiative back to rivals Manchester City.
The 2-1 defeat at a raucous Villa Park—where Buendia struck with virtually the last kick of the match after Leandro Trossard had canceled out Matty Cash’s opener—sent a jolt through the title race. The result was a perfect gift for Manchester City, who played later in the day with a chance to close the gap at the top to just two points.
A visibly frustrated Mikel Arteta refused to let the setback define his team’s season, immediately challenging his players to show their character. “Now it is time to bounce back,” he insisted. “They have given me all the right reasons to think we are going to perform. We move on. We will learn from today and it will make us a better team.”
The Arsenal manager acknowledged the brutal nature of the league, pushing back against any panic. “People who think at this moment we are going to be 10 points clear live in a different world,” he said, highlighting the tight competition. However, the loss was compounded by a significant injury blow, with defender Cristhian Mosquera ruled out for “weeks” after a worse-than-feared ankle injury.
For Aston Villa, the victory cements a remarkable turnaround under Unai Emery. After a start that saw them languishing in the relegation zone, they have now won nine of their last ten matches, quietly inserting themselves into the top-four conversation.
Despite the surge, Emery played down any talk of a title challenge. “I am not thinking about it. I know 38 matches is going to be very difficult; we are not contenders,” the Spaniard said, labeling Arsenal as the favorites. “Now we must get balance and try to play each match, game by game.”
For Arsenal, the path forward is clear: digest the pain of a last-minute defeat and prove their mettle remains unshaken. The true test of their championship credentials, as Arteta noted, will be how they respond. “We are going to have to prove we can cope again, again, again for another six months,” he stated. The resilience of his young squad faces its most urgent examination yet.
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