Arsenal were dealt a blow in their pursuit of Premier League leaders Liverpool after they blew a two-goal lead at home to Aston Villa.

Mikel Arteta’s side had been two goals to the good early in the second-half after Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz had scored.

Villa, however, hit back shortly after the hour mark as first Youri Tielemans and then Ollie Watkins struck.

Arsenal pushed for a winner after that and Mikel Merino had a late goal ruled out as VAR ruled his shot struck Havertz’s arm.

Merino also hit the post in the dying moments and Arsenal were left gutted at the final whistle as they dropped crucial points in the title race.

Simon Collings was at Emirates Stadium to see Arsenal in action…

Title hopes take another blow

It was dropped points against Aston Villa that ultimately cost Arsenal the title last season and, while this year’s race is not over yet, this draw will have really hurt the Gunners.

The manner of it will have been especially painful given Arsenal were 2-0 up and dominant early in the second-half.

In the space of eight minutes, though, Villa struck twice and all of Arsenal’s hard work was undone.

Results earlier in the day made this draw even more of a blow, with Liverpool leaving it late to beat Brentford.

Arne Slot’s side had looked set to drop points in west London, but Darwin Nunez came to their rescue and meant it was over to Arsenal to respond.

The gap to leaders Liverpool now stands at six points and Slot’s side have a game in hand as well. The title feels like it is slipping away from Arsenal.

Defensive issues cost Arsenal

Injuries have hurt Arsenal this season and it has forced Arteta into changes at the back.

That was the case once again this evening as a hamstring injury for William Saliba forced him to miss out.

The result was that Arteta named an 11th different back-four in the Premier League this season. A remarkable statistic when you consider we are only 22 games into the campaign.

The rejig on this occasion saw Jurrien Timber moved to centre-back, Thomas Partey to right-back and Declan Rice to the base of midfield.

Much has been made about Arsenal’s attacking issues, but it was their defence that let them down on this occasion.

For the first goal, Partey was too slow getting out to Lucas Digne and he was able to whip in a cross that Tielemans turned home.

For Villa’s second, Partey allowed Watkins to run off him and the striker volleyed Matty Cash’s cross past David Raya.

Martinelli and Trossard step up

If there was one positive from this draw, it was the performances of Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

In the absence of Bukayo Saka, the Gunners need more from their attacking players while they work on adding to their squad this month.

Martinelli and Trossard have both had indifferent seasons so far, but against Aston Villa they gave a glimpse of what they can offer when on form.

They combined for Arsenal’s opening goal, with a ball from Merino down the left flank finding Trossard.

The Belgian stood up Boubacar Kamara, before skipping past him and swinging in a cross from the byline.

Steaming in at the back-post was Martinelli, who made the most of Villa left-back Ian Maatsen being on his heels.

Emi Martinez did his best to keep the ball out of the net, but he failed and Arsenal got the goal their first-half performance deserved.

Trossard than setup Havertz’s for Arsenal’s second, swinging in a cross from the left that the striker guided home.