NewzBukayo Saka scored the only goal as Premier League champions Arsenal came away from Aston Villa with all three points. The England international slid the ball into a near-empty net from Riccardo Calafiori’s cutback, with what was the first shot on target. Villa went close in the first half when Emiliano Buendia’s shot hit the crossbar, although a goal may well have been disallowed for a foul had the ball found the net.
Not long before Arsenal’s goal, they were awarded a penalty for an Ian Maatsen foul on Saka, but a video assistant referee review found the incident happened outside the box so it was overturned and a free-kick awarded instead. Kai Havertz forced a save from Villa’s debutant goalkeeper Zion Suzuki as the Gunners tried to make the win safe. Arsenal sent on England defender Ezri Konsa for a second-half debut against his former club, and he received a good reaction from Villa fans 10 days after his departure.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal move to six points with their win, while it is back-to-back defeats for Aston Villa, who have lost a large chunk of last season’s team. Arsenal were never likely to have it as easy as they did in the 3-0 opening-day win over Coventry City, but they did more than enough to merit the three points here. Shots and clear chances were at a premium – they only had two shots on target, which was two more than Villa.
Gabriel Magalhaes and Saka had efforts off target in the first half. They thought they were going to have a penalty when Saka was fouled by Maatsen – but VAR made it a free-kick instead, which Martin Odegaard curled just wide. The goal came when Eberechi Eze, a half-time substitute for the booked Christos Tzolis, fed Calafiori and the left-back laid the ball on a plate for Saka to score for the third time at Villa Park in his Premier League career.
One negative for Arsenal was a second-half injury for Cristhian Mosquera, who was replaced by £55m centre-back Konsa. The 28-year-old Konsa became the first player to make his debut for Arsenal against the team they signed him from since Petr Cech against Chelsea in August 2015. Declan Rice also limped off late on, but it was not immediately clear whether that was going to be an issue.
Aston Villa analysis: New-look team need time Unai Emery is having to build a Villa 2.0 after a summer in which he has lost almost the entire spine of his Europa League-winning team. Bukayo Saka's second-half goal is enough to earn Premier League champions Arsenal victory at Aston Villa.
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