Granit Xhaka admits Aston Villa ‘deserved’ their hard-fought 1-0 win against Arsenal on Tuesday night as Dean Smith’s side kept their hopes of Premier League survival alive, speaking to the Gunners’ official website.
As John McGinn said himself, the most dogged of one-goal victories was not exactly ‘good for the ticker’.
Thanks to a brilliant volley from in-form winger Trezeguet, Aston Villa have moved out of the relegation zone for the first time in five months.
The Egyptian fired home a stunning first-half strike late in the first half and, following fter a sterling defensive effort which restricted a rejuvenated Arsenal side to half chances throughout, the Midland giants now appear to be on the verge of a Houdini-esque act of escapology with just one Premier League game remaining.
And Arsenal midfielder Xhaka admits that, just three days after outplaying Manchester City to reach the FA Cup final, Mikel Arteta’s side were second best to a Villa side who now have seven points from the last nine available.
“I think it was Aston Villa, their fight, they put everything out in each half and in my opinion they deserved the three points,” the £34 million Switzerland international said when asked why Arsenal came away with nothing.
“Yes, we had a gameplan and we know they are very strong on set pieces but we did too many fouls near our box, too many corners against them but we didn’t play our gameplan.
“They were more aggressive than us and deserved it.”
With Aston Villa replacing a now-managerless Watford in 17th place, Jack Grealish and co are fully aware that a win away at West Ham on Sunday could save them from an immediate return to the Championship.
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