Arsenal 1 - Aston Villa 2

Squillaci squeaks past Arshavin for the honours

Points Awards

• Miss by mile (1): D. Bent
• Miss by mile (1): S. Squillaci
• Disappointing player (3): S. Squillaci
• Assist (1): S. Squillaci
• Assist (1): T. Vermaelen
• Missed chance (1): T. Walcott
• Missed chance (1): T. Walcott
• Losing Team (1 each): B. Sagna, T. Vermaelen, R. Persie, T. Walcott, A. Ramsey, A. Song, J. Wilshere, A. Arshavin, K. Gibbs, M. Chamakh, N. Bendtner, W. Szczęsny, and S. Squillaci
• Yellow Card (1): N. Bendtner
• Yellow Card (1): R. Dunne
• Yellow Card (1): S. Petrov
• Yellow Card (1): N. Reo-Coker
• Yellow Card (1): A. Young

By Gareth Evans
When Sky originally put its spring schedule together, this tie was probably considered a potential title decider. What they failed to factor in, of course, was that the spine of Arsene Wenger’s side is more brittle than a small twig with a particularly nasty bout of woodworm.

So with Villa safe, this tie meant nothing. Not that you’d know by the ridiculous pre-match build-up, mind you. Sky did their best to convince us that it was vital Arsenal avoid a Champions League qualifier in some Welsh backwater, like Abercwmscratchin, but they weren’t convincing anyone.

And so to F**kwittery. It only took Arsenal 11 minutes to live up to their reputation for late season collapses. Darren Bent lost marker Sébastien Squillaci before controlling a Kyle Walker ball and finishing expertly, earning a point assist for the Frenchman. And minutes later, Bent was again on the scoresheet, taking advantage of a Thomas Vermaelen slip and pouncing to score, with another assist for an Arsenal centre back.

In a mistake-ridden half, Squillaci was also busy earning points at the other end of the field with an easy header that he put miles wide under modest pressure from Villa defenders. So impressive was this performance that he was subbed at half-time – for a striker. Unsurprisingly the Arsenal man also picked up the disappointment of the match award, running anonymous Russian doll Andrei Arshavin close for the honour.

In the second half, Theo Walcott picked up a point for failing to poke home a sitter, and another for smashing one wide. Bent also hit one wide for a point, before Robin Van Persie got a consolation goal for Arsenal when the ball fell kindly to him after a melee in the Villa box.

---