Resilient Gunners
OAubameyang caps character win for 10-man Arsenal over Villa
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UNAI EMERY hailed the character of his 10-man Arsenal to twice come from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and move back into the Premier League top four yesterday.
PierreEmerick REAL MADRID eased the pressure on Zinedine Zidane and delivered a resounding response to their loss to Paris Saint-Germain by winning 1-0 away at high-flying Sevilla in La Liga yesterday.
Karim Benzema headed in the decisive goal at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to secure an impressive victory against a Sevilla side that were unbeaten and hoping to return to the top of the table.
Instead, it is Madrid that go level on points with Athletic Bilbao in first place after a controlled and determined performance that was by some distance their best since Zidane’s return as coach in March.
“We have had a quite difficult time but the players reacted,” Zidane said.
His position had come under scrutiny after Madrid’s woeful 3-0 defeat by PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday, a result that Aubameyang’s 84th minute freekick completed the comeback for a vital three points after three League games without a win for Emery’s men.
“For me there are two things I will take from today. One is the character, spirit and connection with the supporters. And two, how we can improve defensively,” said Emery.
The Gunners defence was again exposed, even when with a full compliment of players, as Villa enjoyed the better of the first-half and took the lead through John McGinn.
The hosts were handed a lifeline just before the hour mark when Matteo Guendouzi was bundled over in the box by Bjorn Engels.
Emery confirmed Aubameyang was his designated penalty taker, but he stood aside to let Pepe net his first goal since joining Arsenal for a £72 million (RM 374 million) club-record move from Lille.
“It was a very big decision to let him shoot, to give him leaves Barcelona as Spain’s chief club in crisis, with Ernesto Valverde under pressure after they were beaten 2-0 by Granada on Saturday. Madrid are now four points clear of the Catalans after five games played.
“I am very happy as people have confidence,” said Emery. “The responsibility was Aubameyang’s.
“He’s hungry every day to score, to achieve individual marks, so that decision is one of a great player.”
Arsenal’s joy did not last long as their leaky defence was breached easily by Wesley Moraes. But Calum Chambers was in the right place nine minutes from time to draw the Gunners level again before Aubameyang’s late heroics.
“We gave three stupid goals away,” a frustrated Villa manager Dean Smith said.
“I felt at 1-0 and 2-1 there were periods when we tried to get the next goal, but on the whole we tried to hold onto the lead rather than trying to extend it.
“We are more than capable of coming to places like this and having a go at the opposition, but there are times when we show them too much respect.” –
AFP been questioning us a lot,” said Zidane. “But we don’t think much about that. We played 90 minutes at a very high level in a difficult stadium. We must congratulate all the players.”
Not for the first time this season, Zidane singled out Gareth Bale for praise. “Today hard work was the key,” he said. “The effort made by