Villa Park, Birmingham | 6 December 2025
The clock read 90+4 when David Raya flung himself to his left and somehow clawed Youri Tielemans’ stabbed effort off the line. For a split second, Arsenal dared to believe they had escaped. They hadn’t.
The ball looped high into the Birmingham night, Declan Rice tried to head it to safety, and there – ghosting into the six-yard box like a man who had been waiting his entire career for this exact moment – was Emiliano Buendía. One touch to set, one exquisite curl with the outside of his right boot, and the net bulged. Villa Park detonated.
2-1. Ninety-five minutes on the watch. Game over. Title race blown wide open.
It was the kind of ending that makes neutrals fall in love with football and sends away supporters trudging silently into the cold. For Unai Emery, arms outstretched on the touchline, it felt like sweet revenge against the club that once discarded him. For Mikel Arteta, hands on hips staring at the turf, it was the cruellest reminder that even the most disciplined side can be undone in a heartbeat.
Villa had started like a team possessed. Matty Cash’s 36th-minute volley – slammed home after Lucas Digne’s cross ricocheted kindly into his path – rewarded a first half in which Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn hunted in pairs and Ollie Watkins terrorised William Saliba at every turn.
Arsenal, five points clear at the start of the weekend, looked rattled. Their response came seven minutes after the restart: Bukayo Saka’s wicked delivery, Martínez’s parry, and Leandro Trossard – the half-time substitute – ramming home the equaliser. Parity restored. Control, apparently, reclaimed.
What followed was 38 minutes of breathless, chaotic football. Martin Ødegaard struck the base of the post. Morgan Rogers forced a flying save from Raya. Rice threw his body in front of everything. Both managers emptied their benches like men playing poker with their last chips.
Then came the 87th-minute roll of the dice that will be replayed for years: Emery withdrew Cash – the goalscorer, the right-back – and sent on Buendía. Three minutes plus stoppages later, the Argentine delivered the knockout blow.
As the stadium roared itself hoarse, Arteta stood motionless. His side’s 14-match unbeaten run was over. Manchester City, watching from afar, suddenly find themselves only three points behind with a game in hand.
For Aston Villa, now unbeaten in ten and up to fourth, the message is clear: they are no longer just making up the numbers. Emery’s project is gathering serious momentum, and on nights like this – when a substitute scores a 95th-minute screamer against the league leaders – it feels like anything is possible.
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Arsenal
Cash 36’, Buendía 90+5’ | Trossard 52’
The Premier League, ladies and gentlemen, is alive and absolutely kicking.
