Villa shock Arsenal to stir Premier League title race

Arsenal's hopes for the title took a significant blow as they conceded two late goals to lose 2-0 against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.

Action: Motivated by Liverpool's earlier loss, the Gunners initially appeared in full control of the game. However, despite their dominance in the opening exchanges, it was Villa who came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half.

A defensive mix-up between Gabriel Magalhães and Oleksandr Zinchenko allowed Ollie Watkins to break through on goal, only to see his effort strike the post before flashing across the goal line to safety.

Seconds later, Emi Martinez denied Arsenal's biggest chance of the half with a superb reaction save from Leandro Trossard's close-range effort.

The second half was different as the visitors looked fresher than Mikel Arteta's men, despite playing on Thursday.

Unai Emery's side came close to breaking the deadlock when Youri Tielemans dispossessed Zinchenko on the edge of Arsenal's box and unleashed a ferocious effort that rattled the crossbar and post before being scrambled away by the Arsenal defence.

With six minutes remaining, Villa finally got the breakthrough they deserved when substitute Leon Bailey turned in a low cross from Lucas Digne at the back post.

Just two minutes later, Villa sealed their victory with a swift counter-attack, after played an exquisite through ball to Watkins, who held off Emile Smith Rowe before dinking the ball over David Raya to secure all three points for Aston Villa.

Big Picture: This result means Mikel Arteta's men are now sitting in second place in the Premier League, trailing leaders Manchester City by two points.

Meanwhile, the Villans boost their hopes of clinching a top-four spot, as they now sit three points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham.

Next up, Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, while Aston Villa visit Lille for the second leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final on Thursday.

xG: Arsenal (1.87) 0-2 (1.33) Aston Villa