Arsenal strengthen top four push with win at Aston Villa

Perhaps it was fitting that Arsenal took a giant stride towards the Champions League at the home of former European Cup winners. Or maybe it was simply a consequence of excellence. Whichever, a sixth victory in seven league games gives them a four-point cushion in fourth place. Pointless at the end of August, they enter April in a fine position.

Their winning run has been interrupted only by Liverpool but Steven Gerrard proved unable to emulate his former employers as Aston Villa suffered a second successive defeat. Arsenal instead produced a performance of ambition and authority, capped by one of their own. There may not be many 20-year-old talismen but in this, as in much else, Bukayo Saka seems an exception to the rule.

Certainly he is Arsenal’s king of the road, a scorer of five goals in his last five away league matches. The fifth appeared the most important, and not just with the context of a midweek defeat. Arsenal had made a dominant start but Saka provided the finishing touch. They are anomalies in another respect, potentially qualifying for the Champions League when their main striker, Alexandre Lacazette, has only scored four league goals but a story of their season has been an ability to source them from those who are officially among the supporting cast. On this occasion, Saka was the main man.

It was scarcely his classiest goal, with Emi Martinez’s view blocked by a mass of bodes until it was too late as Saka’s shot bobbled past him, but the scruffy can have as much value as the spectacular.

Perhaps the goal was out of keeping with Arsenal’s precision. Arsenal had been slick from the start, imposing themselves on an in-form Villa team. They were minus Aaron Ramsdale and Gabriel Martinelli, injured and ill respectively, but absences were not used as excuses. Mikel Arteta has a slender squad but the one position where they have had a high-class alternative was on the left wing and Emile Smith Rowe, standing in for Martinelli, brought a brightness. He was a common denominator in Arsenal’s early chances, switching play, darting into the box, blazing over and almost converting Saka’s cross. If it remains a little odd that Villa thought they could lure him from Arsenal last summer, Smith Rowe has benefited from staying. Instead, the three men they bought with the proceeds of Jack Grealish’s sale – Emi Buendia, who started, and the substitutes Leon Bailey and Danny Ings – lacked his impact, both over 90 minutes and the last seven months.

One who did swap north London for the west Midlands was told he was just a poor Aaron Ramsdale – or words to that effect, anyway – by the Arsenal supporters but Martinez reacted smartly to ensure Ezri Konsa did not score an own goal. Yet Saka’s shot slipped past him and, as the first half was played almost entirely in Villa territory, few could argue the lead was not merited. Thomas Partey laid the platform for Arsenal to dominate and they led before Villa had touched the ball in their box. Bernd Leno’s previous Premier League game was August’s 5-0 thrashing at Manchester City but he did not have a shot to field until Philippe Coutinho’s 96th-minute free kick.

A clean sheet came with a couple of alarms. John McGinn curled a shot just wide after an hour. Ollie Watkins had an effort deflected on to the near post by Kieran Tierney. Ings looped a header on to the roof of the net. But Coutinho, often the scourge of Arsenal in his Liverpool days, was muted. Arteta’s team impressed in possession initially, displayed resilience in the final stages and showed a sense of control. Their exile from the European elite may be nearing an end.