Arsenal's hopes of winning their first league title in five years as they suffered their fourth defeat this season against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Ashley Young missed a chance to put his side in front from the penalty spot but Villa took a deserved lead in the 70th minute through an own goal from Gael Clichy before Gabriel Agbonlahor secured all the points for the visitors by doubling the lead with just 10 minutes left on the clock.

Keen to build on their morale boosting victory over Manchester United, Arsenal looked to step up the pressure early in the game but it was Aston Villa who looked the more threatening of the two teams with Young going close to breaking the deadlock with a drive that saw saved by Manuel Almunia.

Arsenal's first real chance fell to Cesc Fabregas whose shot was not saved cleanly by Brad Friedel and it needed a latch ditch clearance from Curtis Davis for the scores to remain level. Villa should have had broken the deadlock in the 20th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Young was fouled by Theo Walcott but Almunia easily saved Young's weak shot.

The Arsenal keeper looked in good form as he pulled off good saves to deny Barry and Young in the first half and though Arsene Wenger tried to give his side an edge in the attack by brining on Emmanuel Adebayor, it was Villa who took a deserved lead in the 70th minute.

With Bacary Sagna out injured, Young raced down the right flank to cross the ball inside the penalty area and Clichy headed the ball past his own keeper under pressure from the Villa attackers.

The hosts pushed men forward in search of an equalizer but were hit on a counter attack that saw Agbonlahor latch on to a long ball from Martin Laursen before slotting the ball past Almunia to give his side all three points from the clash.