Victory last night means that Villa have now extended their run of wins at home to 15 matches in a row under Unai Emery, who has produced the most unbelievable turnaround since joining the club in November 2022.
However, the win last night did not come without controversy for Arsenal fans, as some believe they were robbed of at least a point in the game, with one individual on X creating a video citing incidents throughout the match.
Controversy surrounds Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal
Gabriel Jesus penalty shout
The first point of contention was the Gabriel Jesus penalty incident, where the Brazilian forward competes with his compatriot Douglas Luiz for a loose ball in the box, with Luiz's foot catching the Arsenal man's trailing leg.
While it doesn't look like the cleanest challenge when reviewed under slow motion replay, the review conducted by the VAR booth deemed the contact that was clearly made was not enough to bring Jesus to the ground, staying with the referee's original on-field decision.
Eddie Nketiah elbowed in the face
The next situation that this video highlights is a foul made late on in the game, where Arsenal substitute Eddie Nketiah is making an off-the-ball sprint between the heart of Villa's defence, before being met by a leading arm by Diego Carlos, which is unclear from video footage to either be an elbow or a palm in the face, bringing the young Arsenal forward to the ground
A foul was given by the referee, and a yellow card was dished out to Diego Carlos, but VAR did not advise referee Jarred Gillett to take a second look at the incident, perhaps due to the uncertain nature of the incident regarding the camera angles.
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Arsenal's late equaliser ruled out
Lastly, the video slows down the ruled-out Arsenal equaliser, as Kai Havertz thought he had levelled the scores late on when arriving at the back post, scuffling the ball over the line in a scramble inside Aston Villa's penalty area.
The video shows evidence of the ball striking the arm of Villa right-back Matty Cash before Havertz handballed it himself. However, the ball strikes Cash's arm in close proximity after Havertz heads it from point-blank range, which would be harsh, to say the least, to award a penalty for.
Upon review, the VAR booth believed that due to the ball striking Havertz's arm twice before reaching the back of Emiliano MartÃnez's net, the on-field decision of handball by Gillet was agreed upon by VAR after a lengthy check, awarding Aston Villa with a free-kick.
Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp slammed the handball rules following the Havertz incident, branding the decision as 'rubbish', stating: "It's a rubbish rule. How can that be handball? It looks like it could hit Matty Cash. It's just rebounding around; it maybe drops, it's ball to hand. I think that we're getting ourselves in such a mess with these rules all the time. How on earth can that be handball when he's not meant to do it? It's a rubbish law."
Mikel Arteta visibly fuming at full-time
When questioned over the incident, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta refused to comment with equal vehemence to the last time he believed his side were on the receiving end of a poor VAR decision, saying: "Clear and obvious. That’s my opinion; that’s all I can say. I can only repeat: clear and obvious."
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