Arsenal hold nerves to beat Aston Villa 4-2 in EPL

Robert Pires had a forgettable afternoon against his former side

The fulltime score might have been a flattering 4-2 in Arsenal‘s favour but the Gunners contrived to ensure that their victory at Villa Park was anything but comfortable.

After successive defeats against Tottenham Hotspur and Braga, the visitors might have been apprehensive coming into the tie. But they came boasting the best away record in the Premier League having won 4 of their previous 6 encounters this season.

They started brightly with Marouane Chamakh almost opening the scoring 20 seconds into the match. They kept most of the possession and were duly rewarded five minutes before the break. Following a defensive lapse from Villa, Andrey Arshavin rushed into the box before cutting inside and slotting low past Brad Friedel. It was the Russian’s first goal in ten matches, his longest goal drought since joining Arsenal in January 2009.

Arshavin almost set up Samir Nasri moments later with an immaculate through ball but the Frenchman rounded Friedel only to put his shot wide. Nasri, however, made amends soon after with a volley off an Arshavin corner just before the break.

Having completely dominated the first half, Arsenal went into the break two goals to the good just like they did against Spurs last Saturday. However it was Villa who came out stronger in the second half and quickly pulled one back through Ciaran Clark. The young defender neatly chested a clearance at the edge of the box before unleashing a volley past Lukasz Fabianski. John Carew was in an offside position blocking Fabianski’s view but the goal stood and Villa continued attacking with renewed vigour.

But even as the ghosts of last weekend resurfaced, Chamakh quickly restored the two-goal cushion, poking in a Tomas Rosicky through ball for his tenth goal of the season. However, at the other end, Clark added a second, a looping backward header, to make it 3-2 as the match looked poised for a nervy finish.

Arsene Wenger took off Arshavin and Nasri and brought on Kieran Gibbs and Denilson to steady the defense and the Gunners held on to the slender lead until Jack Wilshere added a fourth . Deep into injury time, Chamakh selflessly lobbed the ball for the onrushing Englishman to head in from close range and put the result beyond doubt.

The win meant that the Gunners briefly went to the summit of the Premier League, two points clear of Manchester United and Chelsea until the Red Devils pushed them to second after the 7-1 drubbing of Blackburn Rovers.

Former Arsenal winger Robert Pires’ first Aston Villa start turned out to be a forgettable affair. The 37-year-old was a pale shadow of the player he was in Arsenal colours and was replaced at halftime.

The win comes as a relief to a faltering Gunners outfit who looked guilty of throwing away a good start to the league campaign. Now that they have resumed winning ways, the onus is on them to build on the momentum and continue in their title charge.