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Dec 9, 2025
Arsenal's thrilling late loss at Aston Villa blows title race wide open
ESPN
BIRMINGHAM, England -- The Premier League title race is on. Perhaps the biggest concern for Arsenal is they are already starting to feel the pace.
Aston Villa's reward for their relentless persistence at Villa Park was a thrilling 2-1 win against the league leaders via a 95th-minute goal from substitute Emiliano Buendía which rattled this famous old stadium to its core.
Villa manager Unai Emery jumped in delight. Gunners goalkeeper David Raya kicked the post in frustration. Villa's set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee, waved his crutches in the air in defiance like some sort of "Game of Thrones" re-enactment for outpatients.
The cheers were no doubt replicated at the Etihad Stadium, where Manchester City were going through their final preparations before facing Sunderland. They subsequently cut the gap to two points with a 3-0 win. Villa, somehow despite not winning a league game until Sept. 28, moved within three points of Arsenal themselves. Chelsea, having looked like we were emerging as genuine challengers when they drew 1-1 with Arsenal a week ago, are now eight points off the pace after following up Wednesday's 3-1 loss at Leeds United with a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth.
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There was always a chance that injuries would eventually catch up with Arsenal, even if they spent £250 million on eight new signings in the summer to insulate them from the vagaries of challenging on four fronts. They fielded a sixth different center back partnership of the season here, but Piero Hincapié and Jurriën Timber were unable to provide the same stable base as William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães. Ben White started back-to-back games for the first time this season, and struggled to last the pace.
Elsewhere, club captain Martin Ødegaard completed 90 minutes for onl
