Arsenal denied last-gasp winner as Liverpool steal further ground in title race

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Kai Havertz’s arm has prevented Arsenal from closing the gap to league leaders Liverpool.

Havertz thought he had helped the Gunners score a late winner against Aston Villa when Mikel Merino’s strike took a wicked deflection off of him and past Emiliano Martinez.

But the goal was ruled out after the ball was adjudged to have come off Havertz’s arm as Arsenal ultimately blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Villa at the Emirates Stadium.

Had Arsenal held on for a win, they’d have been only four points behind Liverpool in the table.

However, second-half goals from Watkins and Youri Tielemans in the space of eight minutes widened the gap between the Reds and Arsenal to six points, with Liverpool also holding a game in hand.

Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring in the 35th minute when he nipped in front of Ian Maatsen and poked home Leandro Trossard’s cross from close range.

Villa goalkeeper Martinez got a glove to Martinelli’s effort but couldn’t prevent it from crossing the line as the referee signalled for a goal.

Havertz doubled the hosts’ lead in the 55th minute thanks to another Trossard cross.

But the chaos was yet to come.

Tielemans produced a superb diving header five minutes after Havertz’s strike to get Villa back into the contest courtesy of Lucas Digne’s whipped delivery deep on the left.

The Belgian midfielder came agonisingly close to scoring a second just seconds later when his driven effort from the edge of the area smacked the outside of the post.

But there would be no mistake from Watkins in the 68th minute.

Watkins had ghosted behind Arsenal’s backline and volleyed Matty Cash’s cross past a helpless David Raya, sparking jubilant scenes in the away end.

It was Watkins’ fourth Premier League goal at the Emirates since he joined Villa in 2020.

In that time, no other player has scored more league goals at the venue than the former Brentford marksman.

More to follow…