Even Arsène Wenger was awestruck. “In the first half we were absolutely amazing,” the Arsenal manager said. In the second half his team were surprising.

What was more impressive, Arsenal’s ability to produce what Wenger termed their best 45 minutes of the season without the injured Cesc Fàbregas, or their display in the second period when, pushed into retreat by Aston Villa’s sheer force of will, they bent but did not snap? The hypercritical might have wanted a little more steel blended with the silk in the first half and vice versa in the second. But this had the feel of a significant result, especially because Villa were such exacting opponents.

It is axiomatic that Arsenal struggle in away matches against physical teams, that Wenger’s obsession with aesthetics is at the expense of the practical, as if the two are incompatible: you can paint pretty pictures, but can you change a light bulb?

Many more occasions such as Saturday’s and the truism will be proved false. Twelve months ago Arsenal had lost four times on their travels to ordinary teams: Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers, West Ham United and Fulham. Now they have gone 14 league games without defeat this season and hold a five-point lead over Chelsea at the top of the table.

This win instantly melted fears that Tuesday’s defeat in Seville would start a slide. “The way we came back showed it has not killed the confidence in the side,” Wenger said. “It was a good test for us and I think the squad have come out of today with greater belief.”

Arsenal now face a further two away games, against Newcastle United on Wednesday and Middlesbrough on Sunday. Fàbregas is unlikely to be fit for the trip to St James’ Park.

“In the second half it was cold and I agree we didn’t play good football, but the most important thing was to fight. We fight to the end,” Emmanuel Adebayor, the Arsenal striker, said.

Not often do you hear a defeated manager say that he is “obviously delighted”, but Martin O’Neill was, even though Villa’s four-match winning streak was stopped. The performance implied top-six potential. “I said to the players at the end of the game, it was phenomenal to put Arsenal on the back foot for so long,” O’Neill said. “They play some lovely stuff. But they didn’t play great stuff in the second half. You can’t play lovely stuff if you don’t have the ball.

“If it’s flowing for you, then it’s a lovely world. It’s not so clever when you are chasing it. And even those players have to chase it. They chased it more often today than they did all season. Even against Manchester United. But Man United can play like that. When they put their full complement of players out they are a joy.”

Arsenal recovered their poise after an early setback to produce some typically eloquent attacking moves, plotting angles with the precision of a protractor-wielding maths professor. The excellent John Carew’s left-wing cross was deflected to Craig Gardner, who gave Villa a fourteenth-minute lead, but the home team’s defence was not smart enough to resist Arsenal for long. Mathieu Flamini lashed in the equaliser and Adebayor headed the visiting team in front.

After the break, Villa tackled, battled, denied space and dominated territory and their uncomplicated, direct approach put Arsenal under serious duress. Carew hit the bar with a header, but Arsenal weathered the cold, the rain and Villa’s storm. “We showed in the second half that there are ways to beat them,” Gareth Barry, the Villa midfield player, said. The point is, though, they did not.

How they rated

Aston Villa (4-4-2) S Carson 7 O Mellberg 6 M Laursen 7 Z Knight 5 W Bouma Y 6 C Gardner 6 S Petrov 5 G Barry 6 A Young Y 6 J Carew Y 8 G Agbonlahor 7. Substitutes S Maloney 6 (for Petrov, 32min), P Berger (for Bouma, 75). Not used S Taylor, M Harewood, C Davies.

Arsenal (4-4-1-1) M Almunia 6 B Sagna 7 K Touré 6 W Gallas Y 6 G Clichy 7 E Eboué 6 L Diarra 6 M Flamini 7 T Rosicky 6 A Hleb 8 E Adebayor Y 7. Substitutes T Walcott 5 (for Hleb, 60), Gilberto Silva (for Rosicky, 73), N Bendtner (for Adebayor, 90). Not used J Lehmann, P Senderos.

Referee C Foy
Attendance 42,018