Arsenal had to be patient when they took on Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
Whilst Arsenal were ultimately able to record a 2-0 victory at Villa Park, they had to wait until the 67th minute to make the breakthrough.
Mikel Arteta introduced Leandro Trossard to the fray in the 65th minute, bringing him on in place of Gabriel Martinelli. The Belgian winger was able to put the Gunners ahead with his first touch.
However, beyond the 29-year-old’s game-changing influence, it has been suggested that Aston Villa were partially responsible for their own downfall in this match.
The error Unai Emery made against Arsenal
For the first hour or so, Aston Villa gave as good as they got against the Gunners. The hosts had chances of their own, and made themselves incredibly difficult to break down and play through.
Thomas Partey struggled physically for Arsenal in the middle of the park, as Ollie Watkins, John McGinn, and Morgan Rogers all worked hard in tandem for the hosts to compress space and cut off passing lanes in that part of the pitch.
However, in the 65th minute, Unai Emery replaced Watkins and McGinn with Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran.
Match of the Day pundit Micah Richards has claimed that the former Arsenal manager cost Aston Villa their solidity when he made this double change just after the hour mark.
The former Manchester City full-back said: “The difference was, Duran comes on, Ramsey comes on, to make an impact. Partey gets on the ball, through the lines… What happened then, Aston Villa had to drop 10, 20 yards. Now, Arsenal are in control… Villa in that low-block now, Arsenal are dictating to them. This was not happening for the first 65 minutes.”
Leandro Trossard sends message to Mikel Arteta vs Aston Villa
Arteta and Trossard have had a fractious relationship in the past due to the former Brighton man’s lack of regular starts. Certainly, on form, he deserves to be ahead of Martinelli in the pecking order, and that has been the case for some time.
The manager has clearly been keen to afford Martinelli the opportunity to play his way back into form, but Trossard sent a clear message with his impact in this match and he will surely be included from the off against Brighton next time out.
Trossard identified an Aston Villa weakness before he came on to the pitch, as he admitted after the final whistle that he had been analysing the opposition from his place on the bench.
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