Thomas Partey bagged his first Arsenal goal in their win over Aston Villa and hailed the dedication of the club’s fans, who have were forced to endure a difficult start to the season
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In pictures: Arsenal v Aston Villa
Thomas Partey dedicated Arsenal’s victory to the fans after they blitzed Aston Villa at the Emirates.
Gunners midfielder Partey scored his first goal for the club while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was on target after a controversial VAR penalty award before Emile Smith-Rowe rounded off the win.
It pushed Arsenal back into the top half of the table on a memorable night for the Gunners faithful.
Partey said: “The team knew what to do we had to keep fighting and keep our intensity. At the end with the quality we have we are able to get results.
“All the team was frustrated and we wanted a win. That was the mentality we brought to this game today and we were able to get our result.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. I think it was the right moment to have it and I’m very happy.
“The team performed very good. We have to do this every weekend and every game and with this we can achieve beautiful things.
“They deserve it. they have been supporting us when we have been down and when things have gone bad. This win is for them and I hope they enjoy it.”
Villa boss Dean Smith was unhappy with a penalty given in first half injury time after Matt Targett upended Alexandre Lacazette but the away side were unhappy that it was in stoppage time and Aubameyang scored in the SIXTH minute of stoppage time.
Smith said: “It is one of them lower contact tackles. We spoke about it a lot in the summer. It is grey areas. Does he touch the ball or his leg first? I am even wondering why he is allowed to go and put the rebound in.
“My understanding is that if he was not called to VAR we were walking off the pitch for half-time. They still cannot give me clarity on that. First half had not technically finished yet … and he technically he blew the whistle when we kicked off.
“It was a very poor first half. It was not recognisable as a Villa team we have come to know. They deserved what they got first half.”
