Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa: Gunners stunned in title race as goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins give Unai Emery’s side deserved victory at Emirates

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa seriously damaged Arsenal’s Premier League title bid as two late goals gave them a deserved 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium.

In another twist in the race, the Gunners were well beaten as Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins struck three minutes apart to stun the home fans.

Liverpool lost at Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday and a fifth league defeat of the campaign for Arsenal leaves Mikel Arteta’s side in second, two points behind defending champions Manchester City.

Villa were brilliant in a second half which they dominated and their superiority finally paid off when substitute Bailey tapped in at the far post before Watkins took advantage of Arsenal’s high line to burst through on goal and finish with aplomb.

It was former Arsenal boss Emery’s first trip here with Villa and it was one he would have enjoyed as the Spaniard danced on the touchline as Bailey broke the deadlock.

Leon Bailey put the visitors ahead after 84 minutes as the winger fired into an open goal.

This threw the Emirates away side into chaos after a hugely impressive performance.

Ollie Watkins made it 2-0 against Villa shortly after by lobbing David Raya with a superb finish.

Sandwiched between the two legs of a Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich, this Villa game was always going to prove a test for Arsenal and it was one they failed.

Kai Havertz forced Emiliano Martinez into a low save early on before Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka saw efforts hit the side netting.

Gabriel Magalhaes has been a mainstay at the back for Arsenal this season, but he gifted possession to Watkins, who almost took advantage only to see his shot return inside the post.

Arsenal went straight at the other end and almost took the lead themselves, only for former Gunner Martinez to produce a superb reflex save to keep out a close range attempt from Leandro Trossard.

Saka then curled a shot inches wide as Arsenal failed to find a way to relieve some of the pressure building around the Emirates.

The teams were level at the break, but Villa were the much better team after the break, limiting the hosts to just four shots in the second half.

With his team in the ascendancy, Emery turned to his bench and introduced Bailey in place of Moussa Diaby, although it was Youri Tielemans who approached a few moments later.

Oleksandr Zinchenko was caught in possession on the edge of his own area, with Tielemans stealing the ball and hitting both the crossbar and post with a fierce strike.

Arteta replaced Ben White, Martin Odegaard and Jesus as he looked to freshen things up, but in the closing stages it was Villa, chasing the Champions League, who went on to secure the three points their performance richly deserved .

It’s a disastrous result for Arsenal, who have lost control of the Premier League title race.

The Gunners were off-color for much of the match at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

Unai Emery was delighted with his team’s performance and took the lead over his former club.

Emiliano Martinez made a superb point-blank save from Leandro Trossard

But Ollie Watkins also hit the outside of the post as his shot crossed the goal line.

Bailey was in the right place at the right time as Lucas Digne’s low cross eluded everyone and landed at the far post where Bailey scored into an empty net.

Arsenal responded by moving further up the pitch, but that was to prove their undoing as a long ball over the top was collected by Watkins, who broke away from his own half to recover, hold Emile Smith Rowe and cut a magnificent finish on David. Raya.

While the result could have a huge bearing on where the Premier League title ends up, it also improves fourth-placed Villa’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, as they now move three points clear of Tottenham.

Youri Tielemans then beat David Raya but the midfielder’s shot hit both the crossbar and the post.

It was frustration for Mikel Arteta as his side struggled to deal with Villa’s second-half performance.

Villa overtakes Tottenham to fourth place by completing double against Arsenal