Ian Wright says ‘crucial’ opening minutes cost Arsenal at Villa Park

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Arsenal lost to Aston Villa today and former striker Ian Wright has claimed the opening few minutes of the game were ‘crucial’ as the Gunners went down 1-0.

Ollie Watkins scored just two minutes into proceedings at Villa Park. It was the worst start possible for Arsenal, who were coming into the game off a woeful night at Wolves in midweek.

The Gunners huffed and puffed at times but couldn’t break down a resilient Villa defence. And Wright, taking to his Twitter account after the game, was critical of those opening minutes, as well as the overall response from midweek.

Villa could have had a couple more goals as well. In the second half, Watkins went close again, while Jack Grealish saw Mat Ryan keep out a fine effort from his left foot.

It means it’s back to mid-table mediocrity for Arsenal. It had been a good January for the Gunners but February has not started well, giving Mikel Arteta plenty to think about.

TBR View: Ian Wright has a point here, Arsenal had to hold firm

Given they were giving Mat Ryan a debut and they had conceded two goals at Wolves with two red cards, a good start was vital today.

Arsenal didn’t get it and succumbed to the worst possible outcome in the opening periods.

Mikel Arteta needs to get something more from this team at the moment. The talent is there, but mistakes and lapses of concentration are consistently costing the Gunners as thing stand.