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  • Date:2010-01-27
  • Kick-off:19:45
  • Venue:Villa Park
  • Attendance:39601
  • Referee:Probert, L

Live Commentary

90mins

The full-time whistle goes and Arsenal miss the chance to go top while Villa fail to score for the fourth league game in a row.

90mins

Arsenal have a last-minute corner and Sol Campbell turns and shoots but the ball flies wide.

90mins

Richard Dunne is challenged on the edge of the area by Sol Campbell but no free-kick is given.

90mins

Andrey Arshavin gets a shot away which is saved by Brad Friedel.

90mins

Nicklas Bendtner is almost onto a diagonal ball from Gael Clichy but Richard Dunne can clear.

90mins

There are three minutes of added time.

89mins

Arsenal are attacking but keep giving the ball away to the relief of the Villa crowd.

87mins

Cesc Fabregas sends the free-kick straight into the wall and Villa are able to clear.

86mins

Andrey Arshavin is fouled on the edge of the area by Fabian Delph and Arsenal have a dangerous free-kick.

85mins

Samir Nasri is looking dangerous as he feeds Cesc Fabregas in the area but James Collins does well to get the ball away.

84mins

Richard Dunne gets to the free-kick but his header is high over the bar.

84mins

Gael Clichy goes into the book for a foul on Stewart Downing.

83mins

Samir Nasri sidefoots the ball goalwards but his effort is blocked.

81mins

It's gone a little quiet around Villa Park as we enter the final 10 minutes.

79mins

Samir Nasri replaces Tomas Rosicky.

78mins

Fabian Delph is on for Emile Heskey.

77mins

Andrey Arshavin fouls Stiliyan Petrov and Villa have another free-kick, wide on the right, which is eventually cleared by Nicklas Bendtner.

76mins

Stewart Downing's free-kick is cleared but Ashley Young's cross is deflected behind for a corner.

75mins

Gael Clichy brings down Ashley Young as he tries to get round him and Villa have a free-kick.

73mins

Gabriel Agbonlahor could have had a hatful of goals tonight but has not made the most of the crosses coming into the box.

71mins

Possession is switching from side to side and this game could go either way.

69mins

Ashley Young's cross is defended well by William Gallas who sets up an Arsenal counterattack.

68mins

Stewart Downing's pass is too far ahead of Ashley Young and goes out for an Arsenal goal-kick.

66mins

Gabriel Agbonlahor is caught offside again.

65mins

Arsenal are starting to put together some good spells of possession now.

63mins

Eduardo can't continue and is replaced by Nicklas Bendtner.

62mins

Andrey Arshavin goes on a fabulous run and forces a good save from Brad Friedel, Tomas Rosicky is there for the rebound and hits the crossbar.

61mins

Ashley Young's header at the far post ends up in the arms of Manuel Almunia.

59mins

Play has stopped as Eduardo is down injured and the Villa fans are not happy.

58mins

Manuel Almunia flaps at a corner and the Villa crowd are in full voice.

56mins

The crowd howl as Emile Heskey goes down under a challenge from Denilson but there's no yellow card.

55mins

Emile Heskey is booked for the foul on Cesc Fabregas.

55mins

Now the home fans are complaining as the referee awards a free-kick to Arsenal for a foul by Emile Heskey.

54mins

The Arsenal players aren't happy with the referee as they feel they aren't getting any decisions.

53mins

Denilson chips the ball into the area but James Milner gets it away before Aaron Ramsey can make contact.

51mins

It looks like Aaron Ramsey was tripped as he played a one-two and bore down on goal but the referee isn't interested.

50mins

Ashley Young gets down the right and his cross is deflected to the far post where Stewart Downing heads it wide.

48mins

Gael Clichy sends in a cross which is missed by James Collins and Cesc Fabregas is almost in on goal.

47mins

Gabriel Agbonlahor is flagged offside as he tries to get the better of Sol Campbell.

46mins

The second half gets underway.

45mins

The whistle goes for half-time.

45mins

Cesc Fabregas runs at the Villa defence and hits the post, the ball rebounds to Tomas Rosicky but Aaron Ramsey gest in his way and the ball ends up over the bar.

45mins

There are two minutes of added time.

45mins

The corner is cleared but Villa win back possession and build again from the back.

44mins

James Milner's cross hits William Gallas and goes out for a corner just before half-time.

44mins

Brad Friedel slides towards the edge of his area and gets to the ball ahead of Tomas Rosicky.

42mins

Cesc Fabregas hits the ball low and it cannons back off the wall.

41mins

Aaron Ramsey tries to go round James Collins and the Villa man concedes a free-kick for bringing down his fellow Welshman.

39mins

Gabriel Agbonlahor is caught offside as Villa look to test Sol Campbell and William Gallas.

37mins

The crowd aren't happy as Ashley Young is penalised for what looked like a fair challenge on Denilson.

35mins

Sol Campbell comes on for the injured Thomas Vermaelen.

33mins

Ashley Young beats Gael Clichy and sends in another cross but Stewart Downing puts the ball over the bar when he should have scored.

32mins

Luke Young whips in a good cross but Villa's strikers can't make contact.

31mins

Villa come forward again and Ashley Young's cross is headed away for a throw-in by the corner flag by William Gallas.

29mins

Gabriel Agbonlahor nods the ball down to Emile Heskey in the box but his effort is poor.

28mins

Gael Clichy is having a testing evening with a lot of Villa's attacks coming down the right.

27mins

Ashley Young sends in a wicked cross which is headed away by William Gallas and Stiliyan Petrov's shot was always rising over the bar.

25mins

The corner comes to nothing.

24mins

Carlos Cuellar concedes a corner which is drilled low into the area by Cesc Fabregas and deflected out for another corner.

23mins

Gabriel Agbonlahor falls down in the area under the challenge of William Gallas and the crowd are screaming for a penalty.

21mins

Villa don't look like a team that hasn't scored in its last three league games.

19mins

Both teams are creating chances and this is an open game.

17mins

Arsenal clear the corner and swiftly counterattack through Andrey Arshavin but again James Collins is able to clear the danger.

16mins

James Collins does well to deny Aaron Ramsey on the edge of the area and Villa break and win another corner.

15mins

Ashley Young takes another corner but Villa can't find their way through the Arsenal defence.

14mins

Ashley Young takes the free-kick and beats the wall but the ball flies just wide of the post.

13mins

Thomas Vermaelen is booked for bringing down Emile Heskey just outside the area and Villa have a free-kick in a dangerous position.

12mins

Play is stopped as Stiliyan Petrov is down with what looks like a head or facial injury.

10mins

Denilson forces a good save from Brad Friedel and Arsenal have another corner, which comes to nothing.

9mins

Tomas Rosicky finds Eduardo in the box but he's off balance as he hits the shot and it deflects off a defender for a corner.

7mins

Stiliyan Petrov breaks down the left but there's no Villa player ahead of him and the move breaks down.

5mins

The corner is easily dealt with by Arsenal.

4mins

Emile Heskey finds Gabriel Agbonlahor with a reverse pass and the striker forces a good save by Manuel Almunia for a Villa corner.

3mins

Arsenal give possession away to Gabriel Agbonlahor with Villa happy to slow the game down.

3mins

Carlos Cuellar concedes a corner with Arsenal already getting into their stride.

2mins

Stiliyan Petrov beats Cesc Fabregas but his shot from the edge of the box goes wide.

1mins

The game gets underway.

0mins

Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, William Gallas and Gael Clichy return for Arsenal while Nicklas Bendtner and Samir Nasri are on the bench.

0mins

Luke Young and Stiliyan Petrov return for Villa, who are missing Stephen Warnock due to an injury he picked up against Brighton.

Match Preview

Aston Villa meet Premier League high-flyers Arsenal at Villa Park on Wednesday evening as they look to continue their own assault at the top end of the table.

With both outfits going through mixed fortunes in the FA Cup at the weekend, it is back to domestic league action this week.

Villa finally saw off League One outfit Brighton & Hove Albion to make the fifth round, but Arsene Wenger's Gunners suffered a disappointing defeat at Stoke City.

Sol Campbell made a return to the Arsenal backline and looked slightly off the pace in the 3-1 loss at Stoke although he will be hoping for more first-team minutes to return to form.

With injuries continuing to bother Wenger, the clash at Villa looks that bit more difficult. Defenders Bacary Sagna (shoulder), Kieran Gibbs (metatarsal) and Johan Djourou (knee) all remain sidelined.

Samir Nasri (hamstring), Fran Merida (ankle), Abou Diaby (calf), Robin Van Persie (ankle) and Nicklas Bendtner (hernia) are also in the treatment room at Emirates Stadium.

Villa have five injury doubts ahead of the midweek fixture with Emile Heskey, Nigel Reo-Coker and Wilfred Bouma (all ankle), John Carew (knee) and Richard Dunne (hamstring) all facing a race against time to feature for Martin O'Neill's impressive side.

The Midlands side have failed to win in their last three league fixtures and this is a run that needs to be reversed if they are to figure in the business end of the table.

They sit in seventh place but they are just two points off Tottenham Hotspur who occupy fourth position.

Arsenal's recent Premier League form has been superb. Since their demoralising 3-0 home loss to London rivals Chelsea on November 29, they have won seven and drawn two of their last nine matches.


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Match Report

Arsene Wenger had been looking for his 300th Premier League win with Arsenal but the in-form Londoners had to be content with a hard-fought goalless draw against a battling Aston Villa side.

Arsenal, the leading scorers in the top-flight with 59 goals, could not break down a resolute Aston Villa defence in which Richard Dunne and James Collins emerged as the star performers.

As a result Arsenal, unbeaten at Villa Park for more than 11 years, were unable to chalk up the double after their 3-0 success over Martin O'Neill's side at the Emirates last month.

It was, however, Villa's fourth game without a win and in this spell they have only collected two points. Significantly they have failed to score in any of these four matches.

They attempted to rectify this situation with some positive attacking play but the elusive goal continued to elude them despite creating several promising attacks.

As early as the fourth minute, Gabby Agbonlahor latched on a pass from Emile Heskey and forced Manuel Almunia to make a smart diving save to his left.

The response from Arsenal was a more powerful effort from Denilson which Brad Friedel saved by pushing the effort away for a corner.

Villa's attacking play was the more impressive in the early stages and Thomas Vermaelen was booked when he halted a Heskey run.

It was top-class play from both teams. Arsenal's supremely confident defence and attack turned in a quality display which was matched by some staunch Villa defending in which Dunne was again the cornerstone.

Stiliyan Petrov turned in a masterly midfield display. His industry set up several smart attacks but Arsenal's defence, in which William Gallas was rock steady, repelled the home side.

The nippy Arsenal attack was always potentially dangerous with their speed and application.

The best move of the first half occurred when Ashley Young was sent clear. His high cross found Stewart Downing rushing in but he could only balloon the ball over the bar.

Villa had a massive escape a minute before the break when Cesc Fabregas jinked his way through the opposition defence to finish with a low shot which hit the post.

There was another anxious moment for Villa immediately after the restart when a Gael Clichy cross had the home defence at panic stations.

The indifferent finishing ability of Downing was again highlighted when the former Middlesbrough played headed wide from close range following a cross by Ashley Young.

Some of the tackling became a little heated with Heskey being booked despite strong protests for a foul on the ever dangerous Fabregas.

The woodwork again came to Villa's rescue in the 61st minute. Andrey Arshavin waltzed through the Villa defence to see his effort cannon away to Tomas Rosicky, who hammed his shot against the underside of the crossbar and back into play.

Aston Villa

Arsenal

Corners

77

Fouls

1616

Goal attempts

117

Shots off target

104

Offsides

51

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