Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal - Player ratings as Gunners endure frustrating night

Aston Villa defeated Arsenal thanks to an early John McGinn goal in what was a frustrating night for the Gunners.
Aston Villa v Arsenal FC - Premier League
Aston Villa v Arsenal FC - Premier League / Catherine Ivill/GettyImages
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Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa in what was a frustrating night at Villa Park.

Aston Villa, coming off its win over Manchester City started the better of the two sides and just seven minutes in, they had a lead.

After some great work by Leon Bailey, the winger drove into the Gunners' box and produced a neat cut back for John McGinn, who turned and lashed home his shot from close range.

From then on, it was one way traffic as Arsenal dominated proceedings. The Gunners forced multiple turnovers that lead to goal-scoring chances as Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka all had chances to bring Arsenal level.

The second half continued in the same manner as the first with Arsenal on the front foot as Villa offered virtually nothing going forward.

Arsenal thought it had scored late on when Eddie Nketiah bundled the ball in, but VAR ruled that handball by Havertz so the goal was canceled out.

It was a frustrating night for the Gunners as several chances went by. On another day, they would have scored four, but when it's not your night, it's not your night.

Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal Player Ratings

Goalkeeper and defenders

Raya 6/10: Looked a bit shaky early on, but made several key saves in the second half to keep the Gunners close. Not great, but not bad, either.

White 6/10: Made several overlapping runs in an attempt to create two v ones with Saka. Defended well.

Gabriel 7/10: Like Saliba, didn't put a foot wrong on the night and dealt well with what Villa threw at him. A solid outing.

Saliba 7/10: Controlled Watkins with aplomb as he was often in races with the Villa attacker. Again, another stout performance from the Frenchman.

Zinchenko 7/10: Got burnt by Bailey, which led to the goal, but after that, was at his best in between the lines, constantly feeding the Arsenal attackers.

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