On a night of landmark goals, Yossi Benayoun upstaged Robin van Persie and Marc Albrighton to head home three minutes from time to haul Arsenal level with Chelsea and pile more misery on Alex McLeish and Aston Villa. Benayoun came off the substitutes' bench late in the second half to strike a blow that felt cruel on a Villa side who had produced an impressive performance that deserved so much more than a fourth home defeat in five matches.
Arsenal's winner came after Albrighton had etched his name into the record books with the 20,000th Premier League goal, the winger capitalising on a defensive mix-up between Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker. At that point Villa looked the more likely to go on and win the game, as an Arsenal team who had taken the lead through Van Persie's 34th Premier League goal of the calendar year – he has now equalled the club record Thierry Henry set in 2004 and is only two behind Alan Shearer – were pinned back for long periods.
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