Aston Villa vs Arsenal: Hosts Out of Relegation Zone After Beating Gunners 1-0

Aston Villa pulled themselves out of the relegation zone for the first time since February 28 this year thanks to a lone strike from Trezeguet in the first half that condemned Arsenal to a 1-0 defeat in a Premier League match on Tuesday. The Gunners’ hopes of a top-seven finish and thus ensuring European football through PL has thus ended and they will now have to rely on winning FA Cup to do that.

The defeat also ended Arsenal’s run of two straight wins which saw them beat Liverpool (Premier League) and Manchester City (FA Cup) and they will finish outside the PL top-six for the first time in 25 years.

It was Aston Villa’s night well before the contest had begun as Manchester City earlier thumped bottom-dwellers Watford 4-0 and thus leaving Dean Smith’s men to record a 1-0 win to move out of the relegation zone. And they achieved just that thanks to a corner kick that escaped everyone and an unmarked Trezeguet fired home a low shot to put Villa ahead in the 27th minute.

This was Aston Villa’s first PL win over Arsenal at home since December 1998 as they ended a wretched run of 17 matches without a win against the visitors.

Aston Villa next face West Ham on the final day of the league and have the survival in their own hands now.

“We had seen Watford play earlier and get beat. We knew we had to get a win to even catch them up,” Villa manager Smith told BBC Sport. “By getting the win it puts our fate in our own hands.

“There was a lot of character and a lot of courage from the players. It was a massive performance and I am proud of the players for that but now we have to recover and get ready for our cup final. We’re working hard to maintain our status and the last three results have shown that,” he added.