Villa fights back to dent Arsenal's hopes of winning the title in late VAR drama.

VAR disallowed Arsenal's late goal as Aston Villa rallied from a two-goal deficit to win a thrilling 2-2 draw, dropping the Gunners to six points behind leaders Liverpool.

In the 88th minute, Mikel Merino's shot bounced into the net off Kai Havertz, giving Arsenal the victory, but VAR ruled that the ball had struck Havertz's hand and overturned the goal.

Following Liverpool's thrilling victory at Brentford, Arsenal was under pressure to win, but Villa, whose victory at the Emirates Stadium in April destroyed the Gunners' hopes of winning the title the previous season, dealt them yet another serious setback.

After Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz scored goals each side of halftime, the Gunners looked to be winning easily. Goal-line technology was required to award the first goal, but Villa rallied.

Their comeback was ignited by Youri Tielemans, who heroically headed home a devious cross from Lucas Digne, a substitute. Only eight minutes later, Ollie Watkins equalised after the hosts, who were missing William Saliba due to injury, had played terrible defence.

In a wild finish, the Gunners pushed for a winner and believed they had it when Merino's shot bounced off Havertz and past Martinez, but the home crowd was devastated by VAR's intervention.

Before Leandro Trossard wasted a fantastic opportunity deep in stoppage time by dragging wide when placed in on goal, Arsenal created a series of additional chances, with Merino hitting the post and Trossard shooting the follow-up straight at Emiliano Martinez.

Arsenal is now six points behind Arne Slot's team after the draw, and if Liverpool wins their next game, the difference may widen to nine points. In the meantime, Villa surpasses Manchester City to take seventh place.

"The decision is made," Arteta said of the Disallowed goal.

Although Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, acknowledged that it was difficult to accept, he did not want to linger on the decision to disallow Arsenal's goal in the 88th minute.

"It looks [like handball] from one angle, but not from the other," he said to Sky Sports. "The choice has been made. It's challenging. Your emotions are taken away from you. It's not simple.

He expressed his "pride" in Arsenal's performance, saying: "After playing 120 minutes [against Manchester United on January 12] and for the third time in six days, the way we played and competed was remarkable.

"It is obvious that we deserve far more. However, if we want to win games consistently, we can't play the way we did when we defended for the second goal.

"All in all, we were outstanding. Some of the players were completely dead. Whoa, this is how they perform. They simply go about their lives trying to be the best versions of themselves.

Merson: Schoolboy mistakes were committed by Arsenal

On Saturday Night Football, Sky Sports analyst Paul Merson lamented Arsenal's defensive lapses that allowed Aston Villa to score.

He remarked, "They're schoolboy errors," Teams aren't really opening them up.

"Today, those objectives could have been avoided. Regardless of your division, if you perform your duties, you can prevent those two objectives.

"As a manager, all you ask is that the players show up on the pitch and perform their duties.

"Arteta was let down by some players today. Since we witnessed two major errors today—Merino letting Tielemans run off him and, to be honest, what I just witnessed with Partey [leaving Watkins free to score the equalizer]—I don't think that's because the team is shallow.

Emery: I wasn't worthy of a card!
Unai Emery, the manager of Aston Villa, has stated that he did not merit his yellow card during the match against Arsenal.

The Villa manager will now watch the match against West Ham on January 26 live on Sky Sports after receiving his third warning of the season for kicking a ball on the touchline during the 2-2 draw with his old team.

"I'm not sure. I booted the ball! All I did was kick the ball towards the players. You're grinning!

"All right, I'm out for the next match. I see it. I wasn't worthy of receiving a yellow card.

"They competed well and to get something here has been difficult," he continued, referring to his team's performance.

"They were exerting more control over us. We responded really well to the goals in the second half. I want the mindset that we demonstrated.