Andy Townsend raves about Zinchenko as Arsenal win at Aston Villa

Arsenal left it late to seal a dramatic 4-2 win over Aston Villa in Saturday’s early Premier League kickoff.

The Gunners were desperate to get back to winning ways after picking up one point from their last nine.

However, Arsenal had the worst start to the game, going a goal down after just five minutes.

Ollie Watkins latched on to Matty Cash’s long ball before beating William Saliba and finding the far corner.

Arsenal responded 11 minutes later, Bukayo Saka rifling a powerful effort into the roof of the Villa net.

The hosts struck again to go 2-1 up by half-time, Philippe Coutinho finishing off a great team move.

However, Arsenal would restore parity once again, and from then on they didn’t look back.

Oleksandr Zinchenko found space and lashed home from Martin Odegaard’s short corner.

Premier League pundit Andy Townsend loved what he saw from the £30million summer signing.

“Fantastic hit,” he said, as per the Premier League website.

“What a great strike from a very influential player for Arsenal this season. That’s a big goal for this team.

“It goes through Ollie Watkins’ legs and it has zipped past Emi Martinez into the corner of the net.

“And it’s been coming, they’ve been better.”

Arsenal had to wait to edge their noses in front, but when they did, they swiftly made sure of all three points.

In the third minute of injury time, Jorginho had a go with an ambitious shot from range.

His effort cannoned off the woodwork and came off Emi Martinez before going into the Villa net.

Minutes later, Martinez committed forward as Villa chased an equaliser via a corner.

Arsenal cleared, broke forward, and Gabriel Martinelli raced clear to fire into the unguarded net.

Game of two halves

A great comeback display from the Gunners, who were lacklustre in the first half but bounced back in style.

Zinchenko, like a few of his teammates, was disappointing in the opening 45 minutes.

This included giving the ball away cheaply for Watkins’ opener.

However, Zinchenko stepped up after the break and helped get the Gunners level and eventually over the line.