Benayoun delivers late blow to Villa

Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2:ON A night of landmark goals, Yossi Benayoun upstaged Robin van Persie and Marc Albrighton to head home three minutes from time to haul Arsenal level with Chelsea and pile more misery on Alex McLeish and Aston Villa. Benayoun came off the substitutes' bench late in the second half to strike a blow that felt harsh on a Villa side that had produced an impressive second-half performance that deserved so much more than a fourth home defeat in five matches.

Arsenal’s winner came after Albrighton had etched his name into the record books with the 20,000th Premier League goal, the winger capitalising on a dreadful defensive mix-up between Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker. Albrighton evened things up after an early penalty from Van Persie, who continued his remarkable form by registering his 34th goal of the calendar year in the Premier League, to draw level with the club record Thierry Henry set in 2004.

To rub salt into McLeish’s wounds, the Villa manager endured the sight of Alan Hutton losing the plot in injury time, when the Scotland international picked up two yellow cards, meaning the home side finished with 10 men.

After such an insipid display against Liverpool on Sunday, Villa started with much more purpose here, taking the game to Arsenal with a high-tempo approach and creating two decent chances for Gabriel Agbonlahor inside the opening 11 minutes. The first opportunity produced a point-blank save from Wojciech Szczesny after Agbonlahor met the lively Charles N’Zogbia’s centre with a powerful header, and the same two players combined moments later when the Villa striker was unable to turn home a low cross at the near post.

Arsenal were struggling to find any fluency to their play in the early stages yet it was the visitors that took the lead via the penalty spot and through an all too predictable source. Theo Walcott won the penalty, deceiving Ciaran Clark with a neat turn that led to the Villa midfielder tugging at the Arsenal winger’s shirt as he advanced into the area.

It was a needless foul that left referee Jonathan Moss with no option but to point to the spot. Van Persie dispatched his kick into the roof of the net with confidence.

Van Persie was a constant menace, and it was another through ball from the Arsenal forward that allowed Aaron Ramsey a clear run on goal in the 32nd minute. Ramsey, however, snatched at the chance, drilling wide from outside the area.

Villa were proving to be awkward opponents for Arsenal and it was easy to imagine the scoreline might have been different at the interval had Darren Bent not been injured. Albrighton and Hutton both provided inviting crosses from the right in the opening 45 minutes that skidded across the six-yard box but somehow eluded Agbonlahor and Stephen Ireland, who was making his first start in two months but limped off just before half-time.

Without all four of his specialist full-backs, Arsene Wenger had been forced to turn to 20-year-old Frenchman Francis Coquelin, a holding midfielder by trade, to fill in at right-back. Coquelin had a difficult night up against N’Zogbia, although it was a mistake on the opposite side of the Arsenal defence that led to Villa’s equaliser.

Vermaelan’s header from Guzan’s punt upfield dropped short and Mertesacker was caught on his heels, inviting Albrighton to nip in front of the central defender before beating Szczesny with a composed finish.

It was no more than Villa deserved, although Mertesacker came close to atoning for his part in the goal when he seized on a loose ball in the penalty area but shot straight at Guzan.

That was a rare Arsenal attack in a second half when Villa pinned their opponents back until a late rally culminated in Benayoun nodding in van Persie’s corner.

ASTON VILLA: Guzan, Hutton, Dunne, Cuellar, Warnock, Albrighton (Delfouneso 88), Ireland (Bannan 45), Clark, Petrov, N’Zogbia, Agbonlahor. Subs not used: Marshall,Collins,Delph,Weimann,Williams. Booked: Clark,Hutton.

ARSENAL: Szczesny, Coquelin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Walcott, Ramsey (Benayoun 81), Frimpong (Rosicky 66), Arteta, Gervinho (Arshavin 80), van Persie. Subs not used: Almunia, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Squillaci, Chamakh. Booked: Coquelin, Mertesacker, van Persie.

Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire).