Arsenal's thrilling late loss at Aston Villa blows title race wide open

BIRMINGHAM, England -- The Premier League title race is on. Perhaps the biggest concern for Arsenal is they are already starting to feel the pace.

Aston Villa's reward for their relentless persistence at Villa Park was a thrilling 2-1 win against the league leaders via a 95th-minute goal from substitute Emiliano Buendía which rattled this famous old stadium to its core.

Villa manager Unai Emery jumped in delight. Gunners goalkeeper David Raya kicked the post in frustration. Villa's set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee, waved his crutches in the air in defiance like some sort of "Game of Thrones" re-enactment for outpatients.

The cheers were no doubt replicated at the Etihad Stadium, where Manchester City were going through their final preparations before facing Sunderland. They subsequently cut the gap to two points with a 3-0 win. Villa, somehow despite not winning a league game until Sept. 28, moved within three points of Arsenal themselves.

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There was always a chance that injuries would eventually catch up with Arsenal, even if they spent £250 million on eight new signings in the summer to insulate them from the vagaries of challenging on four fronts. They fielded a sixth different center back partnership of the season here, but Piero Hincapié and Jurriën Timber were unable to provide the same stable base as William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães. Ben White started back-to-back games for the first time this season, and struggled to last the pace.

Elsewhere, club captain Martin Ødegaard completed 90 minutes for only the second time since Oct. 1 and regressed in influence as the game wore on. Conversely, fellow midfielder Declan Rice practically plays every minute and was blowing hard by the end.

Collectively, Arsenal are right now a combination of players either short of match sharpness or feeling the effects of a grueling schedule which has taken in Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Brentford and now Villa in the last 14 days. There were some who thought this year's title race would turn into a procession. Of course, it still might -- the consistency of City, Villa, Chelsea or anyone else attempting a challenge is yet to be proven -- but Arsenal's defeat here has opened the door to the chasing pack. It is a psychological aspect they must not cope with.

"Well, it's been five months in the competition and so far we've coped," said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta postmatch. "But we're going to have to prove that we can cope again, again, again, for another six months. That's the level. If you think we are going to be, in this moment, 10 points clear, I think we're living in a different world.

"Everything that they have put in the last two weeks and the results that we got, the performances, and to lose it that way emotionally is very touching. You just feel that everything that you put in hasn't been worth it. But it is worth it because we will learn again from today and it will make us a better team again."

There were positives. Matty Cash's superb 36th-minute gave Villa a deserved lead at the break but Arsenal's initial second-half response to going behind was excellent. Arteta wasted no time introducing Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyökeres for Eberechi Eze, who was at fault for Cash's goal, and Mikel Merino, who lacked his recent potency as a makeshift centre-forward.

The Gunners swarmed all over Villa in search of an equalizer, led by Bukayo Saka as he probed relentless down the right side, so often their strongest avenue of attack. Saka's dangerous 52nd-minute cross was tipped into Trossard's path by goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez and the Belgium international steered the ball home for parity.

The game then entered a phase where it could have gone either way. Both sides threatened before Villa gradually wrestled back the initiative. Former Arsenal coach Emery tinkered effectively from the sidelines as Donyell Malen replaced Ollie Watkins, and then Buendia came on as the last of his five changes with three minutes left. Arsenal began to look battle-weary. Malen dragged a shot wide, Timber almost scored an own goal and the home fans sensed a late winner.

What followed at the end was pure chaos. Youri Tielemans was denied by Raya at close range, and Timber blocked a follow-up effort from Buendía. White then stopped Boubacar Kamara but he kept the ball alive and shifted it to Buendía, who lifted a first-time shot high into the net.

Once the place had calmed down, Emery attempted to cool talk of Villa being in the title race.

"We finished this week really playing like we need to -- competing, demanding ourselves, adapting to the opponent and playing with personality," he said. "Dominating sometimes and getting in the box, being intense and aggressive when we needed. Villa Park is special. The supporters transmit the energy to us. How they responded is fantastic.

"We are going to focus game by game. We know our only way is if we are trying to focus on each competition."

This is a time for Arsenal to hold their nerve. That will not be helped by Arteta that Cristhian Mosquera will be sidelined for "weeks" with an ankle injury and Trossard may have exacerbated a calf injury, triggering his late substitution after coming on at half-time.

Yet this was only their first league defeat since Aug. 31. And the fixture list offers some respite with a midweek UEFA Champions League trip to Club Brugge representing an opportunity to rotate before a home game against rock-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers.

There is no need for Arsenal to panic. But they do need to respond. That is what a close title race demands.