Aubameyang spearheads 10-man Arsenal to victory
LONDON: Unai Emery hailed the character of his 10-man Arsenal for twice coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and move back into the Premier League top four on Sunday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 84th minute free-kick 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.
John McGinn was a constant threat as the Scottish international twice tested Bernd Leno from outside the box early on.
However, the hosts did not heed those warning shots as McGinn was allowed to ghost in at the far post to turn home Anwar El Ghazi’s cross on 20 minutes.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles then naively dived into a sliding challenge with Neil Taylor four minutes before half-time and saw a second yellow.
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 club-record move from Lille.
“It was a very big decision to let him shoot, to give him 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.”
Villa’s failure to use their man advantage in the final half hour left manager Dean Smith frustrated. “We gave three stupid goals away,” he said.