Arsenal give early indication of their title credentials

A different Arsenal. That was underlined in the big moments and the small. Leandro Trossard’s dead-eyed, day-defining finish with his first touch of the game and Thomas Partey’s decisive second goal — but also those wee markers that here is a team no longer likely to be thrown off course. That this is a side ready and tooled up for title-fighting. That you can throw a lot at Mikel Arteta’s players and long gone are the days when they backed down.
Villa Park was just as seething a bear pit as the arena where Arsenal were out-battled on their way to defeat last season. Aston Villa were just as well-prepared, intensely ­motivated and astutely set up as Unai Emery’s sides normally are. Arsenal were put right under pressure, by the storming runs of Morgan Rogers, pace of Ollie Watkins, guile of Youri Tielemans and the knowing Mc-mischief of John McGinn. But, against opponents whose two wins against them so ­damaged last season’s challenge for Manchester City’s crown, Arsenal dug in, dug deep, and dug out victory late in the game.
And while doing so there were those precious little signs of hardened mentality — Bukayo Saka steaming into tackles and rousing the away ­support and that normally nice boy, Martin Odegaard, smashing the ball away to buy time for his team.
Arteta’s triumphs included a pivotal substitution. In the 65th minute he withdrew his weakest link, Gabriel Martinelli, and introduced Trossard. Two minutes later, after a first wave of attack broke down, Odegaard played an intelligent ball to release Saka who, just keeping it in, cut back from the byline. Kai Havertz and Rogers ­challenged for the ball and it rolled to Trossard — with finesse and nonchalance he rolled it in. Not for the first time, the Belgium forward proved a super sub.
“When you don’t get picked there are certain ways to react and he is an example to everyone,” Arteta said.
Villa came back at them but in the 77th minute, after building another attack down the right, Arsenal struck again.
Once more, Odegaard’s perceptive passing was key and Saka played back to Partey who, with Emi Martínez unsighted, crafted a shot into a corner of the net from 20 yards. Martínez, though getting down to it late, still should have kept it out. There was ­further pressure to withstand but Arsenal did and Arteta talked of how difficult it is to do that when Villa are in full flow at Villa Park. “We found a way to win and the team played with real personality,” he said.
Predictably, Odegaard and Saka were Arsenal’s sparks but credit was also due to their strong men in central defence, Partey and Declan Rice in the centre and particularly David Raya, whose astonishing save at 0-0, when Watkins had the goal gaping, was as crucial an intervention as Trossard’s. Jurrien Timber, defending soundly and pushing nicely into midfield ­during the build-up, performed well on his first start in a year. But Villa’s profligacy was also a factor.
Watkins missed the best first-half chance, when Gabriel Magalhães dallied, Villa turned over possession and Rogers squared to leave him clear on goal. From 12 yards he side-footed wide. That was the point, in the 24th minute, when Villa Park got its blood up and the home team responded with McGinn the rabble-rouser and agent provocateur. After Watkins and William Saliba grappled for possession, McGinn steamed in and planted one foot on the ball and the other against Saliba’s leg with dastardly ingenuity, succeeding in both drawing a foul and hurting the Frenchman.
Down by the corner flag there was more McGinn mayhem. Following another meaty joust between Watkins and Saliba, from which Saliba emerged the winner, Watkins tripped Saliba and while the Frenchman was down McGinn battered the ball against his body. But he met his match in Ben White. With the ball loose, White came over and smashed it into McGinn’s most vulnerable region. Super John didn’t flinch but you had to laugh — and wonder if a footballer whose nickname is “Meatball” is ­actually made of stone down there.
Lee Carsley, England’s interim manager, was present and Rogers, who scored twice in two games for Carsley’s under-21s, offered food for thought. The 22-year-old has outstanding physical gifts, able to barrel through opponents with his powerful ball carrying and with Jude Bellingham out of England’s games against Ireland and Finland, Rogers could be an option as someone who can attack from behind a striker. Increasingly, he caused Arsenal problems and charged deep into their box in the 40th minute, almost finding Watkins only for Raya to alertly gather.
Momentum remained with Villa at the start of the second half, and Rogers remained rumbustious. He teed up Amadou Onana for a shot that looped off Gabriel on to the bar. ­Having tipped backwards to try to save, Raya was down and Watkins had two-thirds of the goal to aim at but placed his diving header centrally. Raya scrambled up, plunged left and made a stupendous save. “His reactions were unbelievable,” Arteta said.
Arsenal couldn’t control Villa’s counterattacks or curb their running from midfield. But Ezri Konsa’s volley, from a free kick, dropped wide and though Rogers surged from his own box to Arsenal’s he could only win a corner. Then came Trossard.
Villa would have won most games with such a performance. Emery was proud of it and right to say the game was very similar to last season’s, in which Villa were just a bit more ­clinical and won 1-0.
But he agreed Arsenal are different. “They are mature and build a structure with the coach and their players are getting stronger. The mentality they have is a high level team. They are a contender to win the Premier League,” he said.
Arsenal (4-3-3): D Raya 9 — B White 8, Gabriel 8, W Saliba 8, J Timber 8 (R Calafiori 79) — M Odegaard 9, T Partey 8, D Rice 7 — B Saka 8 (R Nelson 88), K Havertz 6, G Martinelli 5 (L Trossard 65, 8). Booked Rice, Gabriel, Odegaard.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): E Martinez 5 — M Cash 5 (K Nedeljkovic 16, 6), E Konsa 8, P Torres 7, L Digne 6 (I Maatsen 76) — Y Tielemans 8, A Onana 7 (R Barkley 76) — M Rogers 9, J McGinn 7 (J Ramsey 65, 6), L Bailey 7 — O Watkins 6 (J Dhuran 65, 6). Booked Onana.
Referee M Oliver.