Aston Villa vs Arsenal LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Bukayo Saka goal seals win

Follow for live reaction as Arsenal neat Aston Villa in the Premier League to strengthen their top-four claim

Bukayo Saka celebrates firing Arsenal in front (Getty Images)

Arsenal kept their top-four bid on track with a comfortable 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League. The Gunners saw their winning run come to an end with defeat to Liverpool at the Emirates in midweek and faced a short turnaround ahead of a potentially tricky trip to Villa Park, but they make simple work of the task at hand.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had said the scheduling of his side’s meeting with Villa was “not fair” but victory now puts pressure on top-four rivals Manchester United, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur and sees the Gunners strengthen their Champions League qualification hopes ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.

Aston Villa saw a run of three straight victories under Steven Gerrard come to an end at West Ham last Sunday, as Andriy Yarmolenko helped seal an emotional win for the Hammers. The form of Philippe Coutinho has helped take Villa into the top half of the table and Gerrard’s side hoped to get back to winning ways in front of their own fans, but it wasn’t to be.

Follow live reaction from Aston Villa vs Arsenal in the Premier League’s early fixture, below:

Aston Villa vs Arsenal

• Premier League match kicked off at 12.30pm GMT
• Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Young; Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Ramsey; Buendia, Coutinho, Watkins.
• Arsenal: Leno; Cedric Soares, White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Tierney; Odegaard, Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Lacazette, Smith Rowe.
• GOAL! Bukayo Saka fires Gunners in front (30), Villa 0-1 Arsenal
• Full-time: Villa 0-1 Arsenal

[19 March 2022 14:41 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

Bukayo Saka, speaking to BT Sport, Arsenal’s chances of finishing in the top four: “That’s the goal, but we have to stay humble, treat every game like a cup final and we can achieve it.”

[19 March 2022 14:33 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

Match report from Villa Park:

[19 March 2022 14:27 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Full-time: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

A big three points for Arsenal in their fight to finish in the top four. They were simply a cut above today, with the look of an efficient and well-drilled side, and they were deserving of the win.

Bukayo Saka celebrates scoring for Arsenal (Reuters)

[19 March 2022 14:25 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

90+2 min: Bukayo Saka is named man of the match. In truth it hasn’t been a classic, with Arsenal able to exert enough control without creating many clear chances, but one moment of clinical finishing looks to have been enough.

[19 March 2022 14:22 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

90 min: There will be four minutes added on. If anything, Arsenal look like they might scamper forwards and pinch a second goal.

[19 March 2022 14:21 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

88 min: Time running out for Villa, who have never looked like scoring in this game. Can they carve out one good chance in the final minutes?

[19 March 2022 14:17 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

85 min: McGinn with a well-placed cross for Danny Ings lurking between Arsenal’s centre-backs, but he can’t quite loop his header on target. Odegaard is replaced by defender Rob Holding. Arteta wants to protect this lead.

[19 March 2022 14:13 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

81 min: And Ings replaces Ollie Watkins, who hasn’t really had a sniff.

[19 March 2022 14:12 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

79 min: Philippe Coutinho, who has been virtually annonymous in this match, raises his foot and concedes a free-kick challenging for the ball on the edge of the Arsenal box. Danny Ings is finally set to come on.

[19 March 2022 14:09 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

76 min: Another Arsenal change as Alexandre Lacazette is replaced by Eddie Nketiah.