'He was a doubt before' - Unai Emery confirms new Aston Villa injury following Arsenal draw

Unai Emery has confirmed Amadou Onana was substituted with a hamstring issue during the first half of Saturday evening’s spirited comeback at the Emirates Stadium.

Onana was in visible discomfort - albeit intermittently - when he made sprints forward, especially after breaking away from the Arsenal press on the half-turn. The Belgium international’s race was run before the interval as he was replaced immediately after Gabriel Martinelli’s 35th-minute opener.

It was a great shame Onana had to come off as he looked confident in a double pivot alongside Boubacar Kamara, in for his second successive start in the Premier League. It’s a partnership that has the potential to flourish but only if both players can stay fit – and that’s a seemingly difficult ask.

“He was a doubt before the match,” Emery admitted of Onana in the post-match press conference. “We will have to test him tomorrow. Yes it is (his hamstring). He was not feeling comfortable or 100 per cent fit to continue the match.”

Starting Onana was a calculated risk, it seems, as Emery didn’t want to hamper Villa’s chances of competing in midfield. That mindset was evident when the head coach called upon Lamare Bogarde as Onana’s replacement off the bench; the 21-year-old’s involvements have been scarce this campaign but his physicality was preferred over Youri Tielemans dropping deeper.

That decision from Emery proved pivotal as Tielemans staying in the more advanced role just behind Ollie Watkins led to Villa’s first goal. The visitors were 2-0 down courtesy of goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz but Tielemans’ brave diving header to latch onto a Lucas Digne cross shifted the momentum.

Villa gained great confidence from reducing the deficit and levelled up the scoring just a few minutes later through Ollie Watkins. The England international made an excellent run and finished emphatically on the volley, converting from a terrific Matty Cash delivery.

Arsenal threw the kitchen sink at Villa in the closing stages to try and right their wrongs - and Havertz saw a second goal disallowed for a controversial handball - but the spoils were shared.

It’s a point that will be celebrated by Villa but Emery will be hoping it didn’t come at the cost of Onana being sidelined for a lengthy period.