Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins admitted his team may have been fortunate that Arsenal had a late goal disallowed during their 2-2 draw on Saturday.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Villa mounted a comeback from two goals down at the Emirates Stadium, with second-half goals from Youri Tielemans and Watkins securing a point. Arsenal thought they had scored a late winner when Mikel Merino’s shot deflected off Kai Havertz and into the net. However, a VAR review ruled it out as the ball had struck Havertz’s arm.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Watkins acknowledged that Arsenal might feel hard done by, as the disallowed goal denied them the opportunity to claim all three points.
WHAT WATKINS SAID
Speaking to Sky Sports, Watkins remarked: “Looking at it again, I’m not sure. It’s gone in our favor, but if it was against me, I’d be disappointed. From that angle, it’s difficult to tell, but that’s what VAR is for. We got the goal from Youri, then pushed forward, and he nearly scored again. We gained momentum and believed there were chances on the counterattack. We knew they marked man-for-man—Gabriel was on me, [Thomas] Partey on Jacob [Ramsey]—and we had opportunities. In the first half, I could’ve done better. Arsenal were a bit open, and there were chances to exploit.”
WHAT’S NEXT FOR ARSENAL?
Mikel Arteta’s side has won just once in their last five matches across all competitions. They’ll look to recover when they face Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League midweek.
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