Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa: Player ratings as Gunners let two-goal lead slip

Arsenal was held to a 2-2 draw by Aston Villa on Saturday evening as they let a two-goal lead slip to fall further behind in the race for the Premier League title.

Mikel Arteta was forced to make a shift in defence after William Saliba picked up a muscular injury. Jurrien Timber took the Frenchman's place in the centre while Thomas Partey started the game at right back.

The Gunners started the game quickly, putting the pressure on Aston Villa but it was the visitors who had the first chance. The ball fell kindly for Ian Maatsen, who got a shot away only to be denied by a good save by David Raya.

With ten minutes remaining of the first half, Arsenal struck first through Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian did well to get on the end of Leandro Trossard's cross and Emiliano Martinez couldn't keep his effort from crossing the line. Martinelli's goal was all that separated the sides at half-time.

Arsenal continued to put the pressure on Villa after the break and it paid off ten minutes in. Trossard played another sublime ball into the box which Kai Havertz smashed home to double his side's advantage.

Villa hit back instantly when Youri Tielemans headed in from a great Lucas Digne cross to halve the deficit. The Belgian then went close again when he struck the post with a daisy-cutter effort from the edge of the box.

After a tough first half, Ollie Watkins got on the scoresheet to level proceedings when he volleyed an effort off the crossbar to beat Raya. Arsenal thought they had won it late on when Mikel Merino smashed an effort past Martinez but a handball deflection off Havertz saw it disallowed.

The draw with Villa sees the Gunners lose significant ground in the title race. Liverpool are now six points ahead of Mikel Arteta's side with an extra game to be played.

Here are the Arsenal player ratings from their disappointing draw with Aston Villa.

Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa player ratings

Goalkeeper & Defenders

David Raya (GK) - 6.5/10 - Made a good save to deny Maatsen in the first half. There's not much he could have done about Villa's two goals, however.

Thomas Partey (RB) - 5.5/10 - Got away with one in the first-half when he threw the ball straight into the path of Watkins who missed his resulting shot. Got up the pitch plenty but struggled defensively at times as he let Villa's number 11 get away from him for the equaliser.

Jurrien Timber (CB) - 7/10 - Dealt with the threat of Watkins before the break, stopping the striker from making threatening runs. Linked up well with his teammates and won a few duels.

Gabriel Magalhaes (CB) - 7/10 - Made a good sliding tackle to keep out a Villa attack and continued to cause problems for their frontline. Won a number of duels and also helped out in attack once again.

Myles Lewis-Skelly (LB) - 7.5/10 - Looked very composed at left-back once again. Continued to play the inverted role comfortably by drifting into midfield for much of the game. Dealt with Villa's wide attacking threat quite well.

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