{"id":532790,"date":"2019-09-22T14:18:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T18:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=532790"},"modified":"2019-09-22T14:18:08","modified_gmt":"2019-09-22T18:18:08","slug":"matteo-guendouzi-arsenal-aston-villa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2019\/09\/22\/matteo-guendouzi-arsenal-aston-villa\/","title":{"rendered":"Matteo Guendouzi the Difference as Arsenal Beat Aston Villa"},"content":{"rendered":"

At halftime against Aston Villa<\/a>, Arsenal<\/a> were a goal and a man down. 45 minutes later, they had clinched three points thanks in no small part to their midfield catalyst on the day, Matteo Guendouzi.<\/p>\n

Matteo Guendouzi Paves Way to Victor<\/a>y Over Villa<\/h2>\n

An Emerging Leader?<\/h3>\n

Guendouzi has only been at the club for a little over a year, but fans can already recollect numerous occasions where the young Frenchman has been in the thick of the action.<\/p>\n

Often this includes pulling the strings in midfield with his distribution, especially when Granit Xhaka<\/a> is unavailable, but he is also ready to get in the faces of opposition players. This was the case again against Villa.<\/p>\n

Every time he felt the referee got a call wrong, he told the official about it. Whenever an opponent went down easily, at least according to Matteo Guendouzi, he also received the ire of the midfielder.<\/p>\n

This sort of passion and dedication can lead to some uncomfortable moments. Take Guendouzi’s 44th-minute yellow card for speaking to Jonathan Moss inappropriately.<\/p>\n

However, that same attitude can spark one’s side to victory, which was also the case on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Taking the Game by the Scruff of the Neck<\/h3>\n

Matteo Guendouzi never hid against Aston Villa. Although not known for his shooting prowess, the midfielder tried two shots, and both were nearly converted.<\/p>\n

The first went whizzing above the crossbar and the second struck the post and nearly deflected in off of Tom Heaton<\/a>. That’s in addition to all the good build-up play from Guendouzi.<\/p>\n

The Frenchman finished the day with a very respectable 88%<\/a> pass accuracy rate. He also made three<\/a> key passes, second-most among Arsenal players, and completed 83<\/a> total passes, by far more than anyone else on the pitch.<\/p>\n

Matteo Guendouzi additionally contributed with nine<\/a> accurate long balls, joint-most with David Luiz<\/a>. Finally, he won the penalty which levelled the scores with an astute run into the box, something he is not known for.<\/p>\n

The midfielder never hid and could be seen on the ball almost incessantly in that second half with his side chasing the game. While he is still a young man, just 20 years old, Guendouzi is slowly turning into a leader at Arsenal.<\/p>\n

Shouldn’t Have Been so Hard<\/h3>\n

With all that said, Matteo Guendouzi was one of the few Arsenal players who really didn’t put a foot wrong. Nicolas Pepe<\/a>, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang<\/a> and Calum Chambers<\/a> were all decent enough, but the rest of the team was flat.<\/p>\n

This is especially true with the defence. Luiz and Sokratis Papastathopoulos<\/a> are proving time and again that, despite their experience, they can be gotten past regularly.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ainsley Maitland-Niles<\/a> is not a defensive player by trade and was exposed against Villa, leading to his two yellows. Sead Kolasinac<\/a> is also not known as a defensive stalwart, getting much better results as a wing-back than full-back.<\/p>\n

No wonder then that in almost every match the Gunners gifts at least one goal to their opponents. Aston Villa’s first goal was a case of no one marking the man making a run into the box, which is considered shambolic at the Premier League level.<\/p>\n

Then, the team switched off after Pepe’s penalty, allowing the visitors to retake the lead. Simply put, that defending is not good enough to get a club into the top four, at least not in the modern Premier League.<\/p>\n

What’s Next<\/h3>\n

Arsenal will await news from the medical staff about Maitland-Niles’ availability. He had to be helped off the pitch when sent off by referee Jonathan Moss. This may throw a spanner in the gears for the Gunners, who have yet to welcome back Hector Bellerin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the short-term, the focus will be on Tuesday night and the League Cup. Former Gunner Carl Jenkinson<\/a> and Nottingham Forest will make their way to the Emirates to try and repeat their January 2018 exploits in the FA Cup, where they eliminated Arsenal.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>