Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes suffered a huge blow as Aston Villa recovered from a two-goal deficit to salvage a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal needed a strong response after Liverpool defeated Brentford earlier to open a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
The Gunners came close to scoring early when Gabriel Martinelli’s close-range shot was saved by Emiliano Martínez.
The match continued to be an end-to-end affair, with Ollie Watkins missing a good chance for Villa.
Arsenal eventually broke the deadlock in the 35th minute. Leandro Trossard’s pinpoint cross found Martinelli, who got ahead of Maatsen and scored his seventh goal of the season, bundling the ball past Martínez.
They carried their momentum into the second half and they soon doubled their lead, with Kai Havertz converting from another Trossard delivery.
Against the run of play, Villa halved the deficit within five minutes when Youri Tielemans timed his run to perfection to bury Lucas Digne’s cross into the bottom corner.
Unai Emery’s men levelled the scores with 20 minutes remaining, as Watkins found himself unmarked at the back post to volley into the roof of the net.
