It was Ciaran Clark’s first league goal, a beautiful volley into the upper left have corner of Lukasz Fabianski’s net. It was also pretty obviously offside on Villa, with John Carew four yards behind the line, standing directly in Fabianski’s eye line. The Arsenal goalkeeper dipped his head left, dipped his head right trying to see around the tall Norweigan. By the time he picked up the ball, Clark had pulled Villa to within one. After 51 minutes, it was 2-1, Arsenal.
Aston Villa Vs. Arsenal: Controversial Ciaran Clark Goal Brings Villa Within One
The play started with Barry Bannan sending in a left-footed cross from the left flank. Sebastien Squillaci heded the ball to just outside the 18. There stood Clark, who took the ball down, saw surprisingly little resistance, and left fire with a left-footer. The ball dipped slightly as it approached Fabianski’s goal, diving into the top left corner to complete the deft strike.
The goal capped a very positive start to the half for Villa, a good response to an initial 45 minutes that was dominated by Arsenal. Having brought no Nathan Delfouneso for Robert Pirès, Villa seem more energetic - ready to make a match of this in the second half.
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