Mikel Arteta laments Arsenal collapse against Aston Villa

Leandro Trossard set up both of his side's goals, assisting Gabriel Martinelli to open the scoring before Kai Havertz's 55th-minute strike before Villa fought back through goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins.

Watkins has now scored six goals against the Gunners in the Premier League, four of which came at the Emirates Stadium, which is more than any visiting player since he joined the Villans in 2020.

Arsenal were under pressure to close the gap on league leaders Liverpool going into the match after Arne Slot's men scored two injury-time goals to win 2-0 at Brentford.

The draw leaves them six points behind the Reds having played a game extra.

Havertz did have a goal disallowed after Mikel Merino's effort appeared to strike his hand on its way to beating Emiliano Martinez.

Watkins actually said after the game that he was unsure if it was the correct decision or not.

"Seeing it back I'm not sure, it has gone in favour of us. If it was against me I would be a bit disappointed," he said.

"I don't know. From that angle I am not sure, but that's what VAR is there for.

"I think we got the goal, Luca [Lucas Digne] put in an unbelievable ball and Youri Tielemans scored.

"We got a lot of momentum from that and we had a bit of faith whenever we went forward that they were quite open."

Arsenal manager Arteta slammed the defending for both goals, particularly Watkins' equaliser, which came after makeshift right-back Thomas Partey left him wide open in the box.

"Pride [at] the way the boys played and competed, the third time in six days," the Spaniard said. "To deliver that dominance, that performance, they were outstanding. We deserved much more, that's clear.

"The way we defended, especially the second goal, can't be part of our game.

"Overall the word is pride because they were exceptional. The way they tried [was impressive]. There were players that were dead and performed like this for 97 minutes. They don't look for excuses or to the bench looking what to do.

"It was the best game we played against Villa since I've been here. They're a good side. In attack and defending, the level we're playing is so high. Something was missing. The line is so thin and we have to find it.

"Today we cannot concede the two goals we did after everything we did. That line is so thin. Credit to them as well."

On the disallowed goal, he added: "The decision is made. It's difficult because we have so much emotion, the celebration and it's taken away from you. Not easy."

Tielemans, who scored shortly after Havertz put Arsenal two goals ahead, said after the draw: "We came back really well into the game. The [first] goal gave us freedom and belief. It's not an easy task. They were on top of us for 60 minutes.

"I saw the space and tried to jump into it. Good goal.

"From our point of view [a good result] is always deserved. We take the point and move forward. They had many chances but we defended with our bodies on the line. 2-2 is a good result for us. First half we had a couple of counters, misplaced passes from me which could have put Ollie Watkins in.

"We fought really well to come back into the game.

"Big win. We have had some bad results away from home. We just need that consistency away from home because we're doing well at Villa Park. It gives us a massive boost of confidence for the rest of the season."