Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa AS IT HAPPENED: Aubameyang winner in five-goal thriller

ARSENAL 3-2 ASTON VILLA – MCGINN (20), PEPE (59), WESLEY (61), CHAMBERS (81), AUBAMEYANG (84)

Arsenal XI: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Ceballos, Pepe, Aubameyang, Saka

Aston Villa XI: Heaton, Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Taylor, McGinn, Nkamba, Grealish, Trezeguet, Wesley, El Ghazi

Ten-man Arsenal twice battled back from a goal down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s late effort securing the points in a thriller at the Emirates.

John McGinn gave Villa a 20th-minute lead and Arsenal’s task became even harder when Ainsley Maitland-Niles was shown a second yellow card 20 minutes later.

Despite being a man down, the hosts dominated possession and equalised on the hour when Nicolas Pepe converted from the penalty spot after midfielder Matteo Guendouzi was fouled in the area by Bjorn Engels.

Villa were ahead again almost immediately through Wesley but Calum Chambers replied again for the hosts in the 81st minute.

Aubameyang then pounced to complete a remarkable win for Unai Emery’s side who moved into fourth spot with 11 points. Villa are third from bottom with four points.

• John McGinn times his run to perfection and diverts Anwar El Ghazi’s cross into the net

• Arsenal defender Ainsley Maitland-Niles sent off in the first half – second yellow

• Nicolas Pepe scores his first Arsenal goal from the penalty spot – Guendouzi fouled

• Wesley restores Aston Villa’s advantage two minutes later

• Calum Chambers levels for Arsenal with nine minutes of normal time remaining

• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang strikes a superbly-placed free-kick