“It was a classic for us in the wrong reasons. Take out the first 45 minutes where we didn’t perform to an Arsenal team [level] or a team that is fighting for a league title,” Aaron Ramsdale said about the victory against Villa, as quoted by the Mirror.
“The second-half we can be so proud of the way we played, the way we raised our levels, scored goals, competed. For an overall game it was a great game, but for us in the first 45 minutes we had lots to improve on. Of course, we are very happy to go back down the road with three points.
“For me, it’s probably one of the worst ways we can win because we pride ourselves on defending, keeping clean sheets and that’s from the No9 to the No1, and the staff.
“Of course, it’s an amazing feeling now we are in the dressing room but there will be some truths spoken in the week about how we can improve and what we need to do better in the coming weeks.
"In different games, if we don’t show that level of performance in the second-half, a 2-0 or 2-1 head start for the opposition team could mean no way back. We don’t want to be giving teams head starts.”
Villa broke the deadlock through Watkins with just six minutes after the kick-off. Arsenal took ten minutes to respond with an equaliser but Villa restored their lead just after the half-hour mark.
Zinchenko put us level again with thirty minutes to go. Arsenal earned a dramatic victory as Jorginho's stunning effort deflected off Emi Martinez's head into the net in added time while Martinelli tapped into the empty net eight minutes past regulation time.
The 4-2 win put the Gunners back on the top of the league but, as Rams say, perhaps we would have preferred a less nervous victory!
