Ollie Watkins early strike downs Arsenal
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Ollie Watkins continued his recent hot-streak as Aston Villa bolstered their European hopes with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal at Villa Park.
The forward needed just 74 seconds to open the scoring when he fired a deflected effort past the Gunners’ debutant stopper, Mat Ryan.
It was Watkins’ 12th goal of the season and his fourth in his last five Premier League outings.
Arsenal went close though Granit Xhaka’s first-half free kick before upping the ante after the interval. Nicolas Pepe and substitute Martin Odegaard had the best of their openings but they could not find a way past their former keeper, Emiliano Martinez to avoid slumping to back-to-back defeats.
The result means Villa have claimed a first league double over the Gunners since 1992-93 and move up to eighth in the table ahead of the rest of the weekend’s action. Arsenal stay 10th, but could drop into the bottom half if results go against them.
