Villa leave Gunners down and out

LONDON: Arsenal's title challenge suffered a hammer blow on Saturday as a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa left them nine points adrift of the Premier League pacesetters Chelsea and Liverpool.

A week after they had reasserted their own title credentials by beating Manchester United, Arsene Wenger's side suffered their first two-goal defeat at the Emirates Stadium.

"Top level performances are about consistency and at the moment we are not consistent enough," the Frenchman said. "Everyone in the dressing room is very down because it's a massive disappointment for us all."