Villa's new manager Martin O'Neill had set up his side to make things difficult for the Gunners on this curtain raiser to the season. His side defended deep and looked to limit the time and space available for the Gunners. The plan came close to failing on five minutes when Emmanuel Eboue made a burst down the right flank and went beyond Jlloyd Samuel, and when all expected him to cross the ball to the waiting Gunners attack, he unleashed a fierce drive that was winging its way into the top right corner of the net but for a magnificent save by Thomas Sorensen who turned the ball round his left post for a corner.
The resulting corner saw Cesc Fabregas float the ball into the centre of the penalty area with Eboue rising highest to power a goal bound header which Samuel somehow cleared off the line.
The game despite the early thrills and spill settled into a game of cat and mouse as both sides failed to make any real impact. Juan Pablo Angel had a shot on nineteen minutes and Freddy Ljungberg also made a good break from the middle of the park but was thwarted by a good tackle by Aaron Hughes. The Villa defender also did well four minutes later on twenty six minutes when he cleared a Gilberto Silva's shot off the line. Much was expected of Thierry Henry in this historic game but the Arsenal captain looked a yard off the pace and never quite worried the Villa rear guard. One explanation, and the most likely, was the fact that the Frenchman played the whole ninety of a friendly for his country just seventy two hours earlier. Any shots that he offered ended up being sliced or hit high over the bar. Indeed, Arsenal biggest attacking threat seemed to be Eboue and Gilberto who forced more saves from Thomas Sorensen as halftime drew near.
Three minutes before half time Angel silenced the Arsenal crowd who feared the worst when they saw him bursting through and heading straight for the Arsenal goal. Swift defender Johan Djourou appeared to come from nowhere to slide in and make a crucial tackle just as Angel was about to shoot.
The Gunners thought that they had taken the lead just before half time when Emmanuel Adebayor seemed to adhere to shake off his marker and head home a free kick from the right, but Arsenal's celebrations were cut short when the referee's assistant waved his flag for offside.
The game of chess continued after the interval but the visitors took the lead on fifty two minutes when Olof Mellberg headed home a Steven Davis corner to give his side the lead and net the first ever competitive goal scored at the Emirates.
The Gunners then re-doubled their efforts and had the visitors pinned back in their own half for much of the game but were guilty of over elaborating, seemingly wanting to walk the ball into the net.
Crucial to the match was the introduction of rookie Theo Walcott who despite being selected for England's World Cup squad, was not selected to play. The rest seems to have done him good though. He was introduced to the match after seventy three minutes and gave his side a renewed sense of urgency. His runs down the left flank clearly worried O'Neill's side and it was from such a run that led to Arsenal claiming an equaliser on a eighty four minutes. The youngster out stripped Aaron Hughes before lifting a cross over that eventually fell to the feet of Silva who was free on the right side of the penalty area. The Brazilian then took one step forward before firing home a rocket of a shot across Sorensen and into the roof of the top left corner of the net to the relief of the Arsenal fans.