The team Unai Emery picked was full of attacking promise, probably because he had no more down to having no other options available although it was good to see Matty Cash back on the bench. And so Villa kicked off, looking to capitalise on Saturday’s results, although this was more in hope than expectation.

And then, once the game started it didn’t take long to show that Villa could, indeed, get something from this match. There was still no real expectation, because after all this is the Villa we’re talking about, but we more than matched Araenal throughout the first half. They had a couple of chances, then Ollie Watkins hit the post and the ball somehow bounced back into play before rolling along the face of the goal and spinning outside the far post. Emiliano Martinez then pulled off a save that ordinary goalkeepers would call miraculous and the world’s best would say was all in a day’s work.

That was just about the last threat Arsenal showed all game. The second half began with Villa in control, a shot from Youri Tielemans defying gravity by hitting the bar then the post and somehow not crossing the line. Villa didn’t have much in the way of options on the bench but one of them, Leon Bailey, came on for Moussa Diaby after an hour and provided another element of danger. The team began to look increasingly dominant although there were still no goals,and Alex Moreno came on with ten minutes to go for Nicolo Zaniolo, who had done a decent job but was starting to tire.

Four minutes later Lucas Digne’s low cross was missed by everyone except Bailey, coming in at the far post to give Villa the lead. And it that wasn’t enough, three minutes from time Ollie Watkins ran onto a a long, perfectly-weighted ball from Tielemans, beat his marker and hit a decisive second. Two-nil was no more than Villa deserved at the end of what might have been the most impressive and important win of Emery’s time at Villa.

There have been better performances and better wins, but for this patched-up side to go to the Emirates to face an Arsenal side on top form and outplay them for ninety minutes was the stuff of dreams. The goalscorers got the headlines but special mention should be made for Diego Carlos, who dealt with everything thrown at him, and Morgan Rogers, who looks as though he’s been playing in the Premier League for years rather than weeks.