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Ian Wright criticised Arsenal’s players for their lack of game-management after their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

Mikel Arteta’s side went behind at Villa Park as Matty Cash opened the scoring for the hosts but Leandro Trossard struck in the second half to pull the Gunners level.

Villa pushed for a winner and it eventually came in the fifth minute of injury time as Emi Buendia pounced on a loose ball in Arsenal’s penalty area to fire past David Raya.

The defeat still leaves Arsenal top of the Premier League but their lead has been cut to just two points following Manchester City’s 3-0 win at home to Sunderland.

Wright believes Arsenal’s players should have been more conservative in the closing stages of the game against Villa in order to secure a point away from home.

‘I think you’ve got to look at the substitutions he [Emery] made, Malen coming on, offensive, Buendia coming on, offensive, I think that should have been the signal to Arsenal to say, ‘right, ‘let’s shut up shop now because they’re going for it’,’ Wright told Premier League Productions.

Asked if that meant Arsenal’s game management was not right, Wright replied: ‘No, it was not.

‘I think once you get past 85 minutes I think Arsenal going there, let’s face it, Villa with the chances they had could have won the game, you then say, ‘let’s take what we’ve got now and get back to London’.’

Former Villa manager, Martin O’Neill, was a pundit alongside Wright and claimed Arteta would have been instructing his Arsenal players to see out the game for a draw and highlighted Noni Madueke’s decision to shoot from a narrow angle instead of taking it to the corner to run down the clock.

‘I think some players have to take responsibility,’ O’Neill said.

‘You [Wright] mentioned Madueke should have run it into the corner, these are the type of things, the manager would have been encouraging him to do exactly that.

‘So you’re talking about the game management, sometimes it’s not down to the manager, he would’ve been shouting, Madueke wouldn’t have been able to have heard him, but he would’ve been shouting take it to the corner.

‘I think you know this, these are not young players any more, you should know this, you know the last five minutes of a match will be very tight, you know what the manager’s thinking, he would’ve taken a draw.

‘It’s great to be offensive, and it’s great to be thinking you can score in the last minute, let’s say Madueke had broken through and suddenly something opened up for him and he scored a goal, there would be nobody in the dressing room saying they were going for that.

‘Again, you’re away from home against a side who are right up alongside you, and this is a very, very important stage of the season, every game is, but coming into Christmas the last thing you want to surrender is that great record you’ve had in the circumstances you’ve had.

‘Had Villa scored 15 minutes earlier and you’re then desperate to get an equaliser yourself, fine, absolutely change it up, but when you’re holding on to something, and you’ve had a bit of luck 10 minutes earlier, take that luck and just run it into the corner.’

Wright added: ‘I have to agree with Martin, naturally, as a forward if we’re getting into that stage of the game where they’re putting pressure on, they’ve put two forwards on, then you naturally know, ‘I’m going to start running it into the corner now.

‘Because a point at Villa at this stage is good. I think a lot more will lose points at Villa Park, but it would’ve been a good one to take.’

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David James has named the ‘favourite’ to win the Premier League after Manchester City closed the gap on title favourites Arsenal.

Man City clinched a routine 3-0 win over in-form Sunderland shortly after Arsenal’s deflating 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

Sunderland have exceeded expectations during their return to the Premier League but were no match for Pep Guardiola’s side, who were 2-0 up at half-time thanks to goals from Ruben Dias and Josko Gvadiol.

Phil Foden continued his superb form with his fifth goal in three games, Man City climbing back up to second in the Premier League, now just two points behind Arsenal.

Arsenal have been by far the best team in England this season but dropped points for the third time in five games at Villa Park.

It looked as though Leandro Trossard’s second-half goal would earn the Gunners a point after Matty Cash broke the deadlock for Unai Emery’s side.

But Emi Buendia rifled home a dramatic winner with virtually the last kick of the game as Villa stormed into title contention.

Ex-Premier League goalkeeper David James said Arsenal looked ‘a bit vulnerable’ against Villa and insisted it was possible for teams to trouble Mikel Arteta’s formidable defence.

But while James has given the other title contenders hope of ‘reducing the gap’ to Arsenal, he still views the Gunners as ‘favourites’ to win the Premier League.

‘The interesting thing with Man City is they’re capable of losing games themselves at the minute,’ James told Stadium Astro.

‘I don’t think they’re the finished article by any stretch. Erling Haaland is the talisman for them but if you can keep him quiet you’ve got a good chance of stopping Man City.

‘What’s encouraging for the other clubs is when Arsenal do concede, they do look a little bit vulnerable.

‘Villa showed strength, ability and determination and if the other teams can do that they could reduce the gap on Arsenal.

‘But that’s not to say Arsenal aren’t still the favourites.’

Ex-Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill also believes Arsenal remain the team to beat in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners have not won the league since 2004, finishing as runners-up for the past three seasons.

‘Mikel Arteta sounded pretty focused after the game and so he should because they’ve been on a fantastic run,’ O’Neill said on Premier League Productions.

‘Okay, they’ve conceded in the last minute and that will hurt, definitely. They need to start again next weekend because they’ve got a real strength about them and a will not to lose and that should stand them in great stead over the course of the season.

‘The truth is I think we all think that if any team finishes above Arsenal this season they will win the league.’

One of the pressing issues for Arteta is the growing number of Arsenal players in the treatment room and Ray Parlour is ‘concerned’ by his former club’s injury issues.

‘It’s definitely a concern,’ Parlour said. ‘A lot of the defenders are out, those injuries are stacking up now.

‘This time of year is so congested, it’s a really crucial period. Mikel has got to try and manage the squad and get a few players fit.

‘That will be a disappointing trip back to Birmingham today, conceding late on is always s disappointing but you need to bounce back, that’s what good teams do.

‘Mikel Arteta will be a bit concerned but Arsenal need to deal with it.’

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