Early Aston Villa goal extends Arsenal’s winless run

Birmingham, United Kingdom, Feb 6 (efe-epa).- An early goal by Aston Villa’s English forward Ollie Watkins added to Arsenal’s recent woes as they lost 1-0 at Villa Park on Saturday.

The defeat means the Gunners have now gone three Premier League games without winning.

Just two minutes into the game, the 25-year-old Watkins’ shot punished sloppy defending from the visitors, as the Villains quickly got back on track after their 3-1 defeat to West Ham in midweek.

It was the former Brentford striker’s 10th goal of his maiden Premier League season, making it the second consecutive game that he has found the net.

“As disappointed as I was on Wednesday is as happy as I am today – it’s polar opposites,” Aston Villa’s coach Dean Smith said.

“On Wednesday, we felt like a good team without putting in the hard yards. I reminded them today of what it takes to be a good team and why we’d got ten wins before today,” he said.

“I thought we deserved the win. They had the lion’s share of possession and put some good balls into the box, and I felt we got good blocks and tackles in when we needed to,” he added

Watkins’ 12th across all competitions ruined the debut Arsenal of Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, who joined the Gunners a couple of weeks ago on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion for the rest of the season.

Since their 3-1 victory at Southampton on 26 January, Arsenal has failed to win, having played to a goalless draw against Manchester United and endured a 2-1 defeat to Wolves.

The win leaves Aston Villa in eighth spot in the Premier League table with 35 points after 21 games, while Arsenal is 10th with 31 points, although they have played two games more.