Arsenal earn vital victory at home to Aston Villa to move five points clear in first

Arsenal hosted Aston Villa last night in the Premier League, as the Gunners looked to end Villa's 11-game win streak. The two sides met earlier this month, and Unai Emery's side were 2-1 winners late on at Villa Park.

The Gunners had the opportunity to end 2025 top of the table with a win, while creating a five-point gap between themselves and Manchester City. If Villa won, then they would go level on points with Arsenal and move to second.

Aston Villa started the match the better of the two and created plenty of chances in the first half, with William Saliba producing a crucial goal-denying challenge to stop Ollie Watkins from opening the scoring.

At half-time, the scoreline was level at 0-0.

But three minutes into the second half, Gabriel Magalhães opened the scoring, as he headed home from a Bukayo Saka corner.

The Gunners found themselves a crucial lead against an opposition that have found winning easy recently.

Martin Zubimendi then doubled the score seven minutes on, by scoring from a perfectly placed pass from Martin Ødegaard.

The Gunners were in the lead and were on their way to three points, while beating third place in the process.

Leandro Trossard added the third, and less than 10 minutes later, Gabriel Jesus scored the fourth.

Ollie Watkins netted deep into added time for Villa, but the three points were safely secure for Arsenal.

The full-time score was Arsenal 4-1 Aston Villa, and the Gunners were entering 2026 top of the table.