Aston Villa Vs. Arsenal, 2011 Premier League: Villa Impress, But Fall Anyway

Marc Albrighton scored the 20,000th goal in the history of the Premier League, although his wonderful individual effort wasn't enough to prevent Aston Villa from going down 2-1 at home to Arsenal. Unlike most Villa losses this season, this one probably wasn't deserved - the home side played positive, attacking football and looked as though they'd nick at least a point off a disappointing Arsenal side.

Robin van Persie opened the scoring, as is his wont, in the first half following Ciaran Clark's foul on Theo Walcott in the penalty area, the Dutch striker blasting the spot kick into the roof of Brad Guzan's net. It was a goal that came against the run of play, with Villa pushing Arsenal back tirelessly and unfortunate to be behind at halftime. Albrighton rectified that situation soon after the break, nicking the ball past Thomas Vermaelen on the run before sliding a neat effort into Wojciech Szczesny's goal to even the scores, but Villa hearts were broken when Yossi Benayoun lost his marker in the 87th minute and directed van Persie's corner into the back of the net.