John McGinn's early goal propelled Aston Villa to a historic 15th consecutive home Premier League triumph on Saturday, securing a thrilling 1-0 victory over Arsenal. This result thwarted Mikel Arteta's Gunners' attempt to reclaim the top spot in the table.
Under the leadership of Unai Emery, Villa, who stunned champions Manchester City with a commanding 1-0 win on Wednesday in what McGinn dubbed a "monumental week," now sit in third place with 35 points from 16 games.
This positions them competitively in the tightly contested title race. Meanwhile, Arsenal, having been surpassed by Liverpool earlier on Saturday, currently hold the second spot with 36 points.
"I'm banning the T-word," a laughing McGinn told Sky Sports, when asked if Villa were title contenders. "It's game week 16, so there's a long, long way to go, and we respect everyone in front of us who have been in this position for years. We're newbies. Can we keep it up? Hopefully."
Emery also cautioned that the season was young.
"I will speak when we are in (week) 30, 32, and if we are in the same position then as we are now, I can speak about (the title race)," he said.
Villa Park erupted in the seventh minute when Leon Bailey raced down the right wing, skillfully cutting back the ball to find McGinn. Villa's captain took a single touch, executed a sharp turn, and fired the ball past keeper David Raya.
Arsenal believed they had leveled the score in added time, but VAR intervened, determining that Kai Havertz had handled the ball while slotting it past keeper Emi Martinez amid a goalmouth scramble.
Ecstatic fans serenaded the team with chants of "Hi Ho Aston Villa" as the final whistle blew.
Emery revealed that achieving 15 consecutive home wins was a milestone he had never reached in his managerial career before.
"I think I will not again achieve (it) in the future; it's amazing, it's brilliant," said the former Arsenal manager.
McGinn said Villa Park was a "a great place to play football when the fans are behind you like that.
"It's very, very difficult for away teams to come and play. I remember the last team to beat us here was Arsenal and that game certainly stung us, so today was a little bit of revenge.
"Long may it continue and if we keep our home form up, then hopefully we can achieve something this season."
Arsenal had multiple opportunities to equalize, with Martin Odegaard at the forefront. The Norwegian unleashed a low shot narrowly missing the post and followed up with another aimed directly at Martinez in the first half. Odegaard's frustration persisted after halftime as he poked a close-range shot just wide of the post.
In the 61st minute, Bukayo Saka managed to beat Martinez and slot the ball into the empty net, but the joy was short-lived as he was flagged for offside.
"I thought we were the better team and didn't deserve to lose the game but this is football," Arteta said. "We have to put the ball in the net today, and that's the only thing that we missed today because we generated some big, big chances, but we still lost the game."
Arteta, whose team from north London came into the match on the back of four consecutive victories, found himself consigned to the directors' box for the game. This came as a result of serving a one-match ban, incurred after receiving his third yellow card of the season.
(With Reuters inputs)
