Arsenal team
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Arsenal Show Their Mettle

Arsenal could have wilted. On the back of a dispiriting defeat to Manchester City less than 72 hours earlier, the Gunners were in danger of seeing their blip in form turn into a season-defining slump on Saturday. Winless in three matches and knocked off their perch atop the Premier League table for the first time in several months, Arsenal fell behind in just the fifth minute of the day’s early match against Aston Villa.

Their response was telling.

As reported on The Score, instead of shrinking, Mikel Arteta’s team dug deep on multiple occasions to claim a dramatic 4-2 victory, twice coming from behind at Villa Park before snatching three crucial points with a pair of stoppage-time goals. There was some good fortune involved in the eventual match-winning tally in the 93rd minute – Jorginho’s fierce shot smashed the crossbar before careening off Emiliano Martinez’s head and back over the line – but, at this stage of a title race, the “how” of collecting points isn’t important. Every team that has ever won anything of significance has benefitted from some luck along the way. Perhaps it’s too simplistic, but, one way or another, these are the kinds of matches you have to win when chasing a title, by any means necessary.

The bigger lesson from Saturday’s thrilling contest was Arsenal showing their mettle. On limited rest, against their former manager, and out of rhythm for the first time all season, previous versions of this team would not have displayed the fortitude necessary to get the win.

“This group are such amazing people. They can achieve everything they want if we continue this way, if we keep fighting, keep believing,” said Oleksandr Zinchenko, whose guttural roar after scoring a second-half equalizer served as a rallying cry for his teammates. “The reaction from all of us in the second half was perfect.”

The resilience they showed became all the more consequential just hours later when Manchester City stumbled, giving Arsenal their place back at the top of the standings.

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