Arsenal started their tough fixture list in less than ideal fashion as Aston Villa held the title challengers to a goalless draw.
Goalless stalemate at Villa Park hinders Arsenal's title quest
Arsenal began their tough fixture list in less than ideal fashion as top-four hopefuls Aston Villa held the title challengers to a goalless draw in the West Midlands.
The Gunners were looking to return to the summit of the Premier League by doing the double over the Villans in what proved an enterprising contest of chances aplenty but shy of goals.
It was not through a lack of trying however as the visitors struck the woodwork at both ends while the hosts' best opportunities came from a plethora of set-piece situations.
Villa boss Martin O'Neill saw his side press for a late winner in vain as they failed to make significant strides towards a UEFA Champions League position and remain seventh having now failed to score in four successive league games.
Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, was dealt injury blows to Thomas Vermaelen and Eduardo meaning it looks like veteran defender Sol Campbell will get his chance to perform against the best once again with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool being Arsenal's next three fixtures.
But the Gunners boss will at least take heart from the performance of Cesc Fabregas as he turned in another classy performance while Andrey Arshavin was always a threat to the Villa rearguard.
Stirling Petrov
Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov defied an Achilles problem to produce a sterling display in the middle of the park.
Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia was called into action to prevent Gabriel Agbonlahor from giving Villa a fourth-minute lead.
Emile Heskey played in Villa's 10-goal leading scorer and his low cross-shot contained plenty of power and was tipped around the post by Almunia.
Heskey was again prominent in finding the overlapping Petrov in space down the left and his deft centre was only just too high for Agbonlahor.
Arsenal responded and Villa defender Richard Dunne deflected a shot from Eduardo for a corner.
Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel then went down to his right to parry away a dipping drive from the edge of the box by Denilson.
Heskey was posing plenty of problems and Arsenal defender Vermaelen was yellow-carded after bringing down the England striker 25 yards out.
It was a situation tailormade for the dead-ball skills of Ashley Young and he curled his free-kick only a couple of feet wide with Almunia rooted to his line.
Squandered
Stewart Downing squandered a good chance to break the deadlock in the 32nd minute after Ashley Young had shaken off the challenge of Gael Clichy.
His cross to the back post dropped invitingly for the former Middlesbrough player but he could not keep his shot down.
Arsenal boss Wenger was forced to make a substitution after 35 minutes with Vermaelen limping out of the action and replaced by Campbell.
In first-half stoppage-time Fabregas, Villa's two-goal destroyer in the Christmas clash at the Emirates Stadium, came close to breaking the deadlock when his shot flew across the body of Friedel but struck the far post and rebounded to safety.
Arsenal began the second half on the offensive and Friedel did well to block a shot from Fabregas.
But Downing should have done better for Villa when he headed wide from two yards out from a deep centre by Ashley Young before Heskey was cautioned for bringing down Fabregas.
Set-back
Arsenal suffered a setback just after the hour mark when Eduardo limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and was replaced by Nicklas Bendtner.
The Gunners were now looking the more likely to open the scoring and twice in the space of a few seconds nearly went ahead.
Arshavin showed his class with a run into the Villa box which forced a good block out of Friedel.
The rebound came out to Rosicky and his shot cannoned against the underside of the bar but did not cross the line.
Heskey was replaced after 77 minutes by promising youngster Fabian Delph and then Rosicky made way for Samir Nasri.
Clichy was yellow-carded with six minutes remaining for a challenge on Downing but there was no more significant goalmouth action as the game ended goalless.
| Aston Villa |
Team Statistics |
Arsenal |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 0 |
Blocked Shots |
8 |
| 7 |
Corners |
7 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 70.2 |
Passing Success |
75.1 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
11 |
| 61.9 |
Tackles Success |
81.8 |
| 48.4 |
Possession |
51.6 |
| 50.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
49.1 |
|
