Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa: 3 talking points as Gunners hand title advantage to City

Arsenal suffered what could be a debilitating loss to Aston Villa at the Emirates as Mikel Arteta's side gave up valuable ground in the title race.

The one thing Arsenal couldn't afford to do was allow Manchester City to sneak ahead in the title race, but with a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, the advantage is now firmly with Pep Guardiola's juggernaut.

Two late goals from Leon Bailey (84) and Ollie Watkins (87) secured a vital three points for Unai Emery's side while perhaps handing the title to City for a fourth straight season.

With Liverpool's 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace, a chance to open up a gap on Jurgen Klopp's side presented itself, but the Gunners failed spectaculary.

Villa was by far the better side and was finally rewarded with two quick-fire goals to sink a disappointing Arsenal side.

The game provided plenty of talking points; here they are.

Zinchenko's time up at Arsenal?

While the Ukrainian started relatively well, Villa attacked the left-back and constantly got joy down his side, and with Zinchenko sloppy in possession, the visitors pounced.

Exactly why Arteta chose Zinchenko over Kiwior is unknown, perhaps to give the Polish star a breather, but no one can understate that Zinchenko has now become the weak link for the Arsenal defense...and Villa exploited it perfectly.

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