Saka scores only goal as Arsenal beat Aston Villa
It's two wins from two for Gunners as Villa lose both games
Konsa comes on for Arsenal debut against former club
Transfer latest as window shuts on Tuesday
Watch the weekend's Premier League highlights | Play our Match of the Day Predictor
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
It's time for us to say goodbye and head off for some sleep before a busy transfer deadline day tomorrow.
Thanks for joining us as ever and we'll leave you with the highlights as Arsenal make it two wins from two.
Saka earns Arsenal hard-fought win at Aston Villa
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Scenes.
Image source, Getty ImagesFT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to Sky Sports: "We lost. We competed well. They are favourites to win the Premier League and we are trying to build a team, but a lot of positive things. The first step forward today is positive."
On if he likes the challenge: "To lose is painful, but after we must try to get positive things. This is the reason I am optimistic. There are 38 matches. After two matches, we don't have a point but hopefully we can get better. We can feel confident after this result because of the way we want to build a team again.
On Ibrahim Mbaye and Taylor Harwood-Bellis: "I was 100% focused on the match. If it's not official, I don't know more. I think the squad we have now is how we planned and the players we wanted. Now work, work, work."
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta speaking to Match of the Day: "This is a really difficult place to come and win the game. Last season we lost in the last kick of the game. They were hurt after what happened last week. It was a great squad performance tonight."
On if this is his best strength in depth: "That is what we need. The players that come in make the difference. All of them contributed to create more dominance and more momentum.
"The level of focus and the way they want to contribute to the team, that is going to be decisive in the season."
Aston Villa vs Arsenal: Mikel Arteta post-match interview
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Jamie Carragher
Former Liverpool defender on Sky Sports
The only thing Villa could've done was stay in the game for as long as possible, you are looking at arguably the best team in world football in Arsenal.
It wasn't a classic.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to Match of the Day: "We performed like we planned and we competed like we planned. We didn't achieve the result, of course, it's painful. But through how we played and competed, that is the way we want to build again, to build a team like we want. The debut of some players was fantastic."
On if is excited to work with new players: "We are happy how we are closing the transfer window. We are not regretting anything. The players we have joining should be enough to build the team again with the structure we want."
On Taylor Harwood-Bellis watching in the stands: "I don't know if it's official, hopefully we can close everything. We did a fantastic job in the last three years, now with the new chapter, try to rebuild the team as fast as possible."
On last year's success despite a slow start and if people are quick to forget that: "Each year is different. We have an idea in our mind to build again and create a new chapter. We have lost two matches. We don't want to compare with the past, we must focus on this year."
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Still not a single minute for Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres in the Premier League this season, by the way.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka, speaking to Sky Sports: "Very, very tough game. It's not easy coming here, they made it hard for us. It feels even better to come out with the win.
"The way they defend, really compact and with a high line, they caught us offside. We had to adapt to that. Different from what we faced last week, we weren't able to implement our attacking pattern.
"One goal is normally enough for us because we are so solid at the back. When we got the first one, it actually opened the game up. We wanted to push for the second one.
"All the full-backs, the way they play gives us a lot. For us wingers, it opens up the game for us, we've always got composure in the box.
"We weren't at our highest level with the ball. Without it, we were incredible. As soon as we lost it, we were running back. We knew that they liked to play in transition.
"All the boys put in a shift tonight. It helps with a clean sheet."
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
This man was brilliant tonight.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Jamie Carragher
Former Liverpool defender on Sky Sports
What Arsenal do have is great organisation behind the ball, which lets their full-backs be so adventurous. The way Arteta deals with them and the license he gives them is so good. The constant rotation of movement is something that we don't see any other team in the league do.
It feels like Calafiori is the best left-back in the league at the moment. He's absolutely fantastic.
FT: Aston Vlla 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta speaking to Sky Sports: "Really happy, it's a massive win. It's a tough place to come and earn three points. I think we deserved it. We had a great performance. With 11, it wasn't enough, the finishers came in and did a magnificent job to finish the game and win it. I know how tough it is to win here. Every big team has struggled against them because they are so good.
On if he has more trust in his players now: "I always trust my players. The level depends on the moment as well. Last year, we lost here in a really difficult way. That was still in the tummy."
On Eze and Konsa's performances from the bench: "Ebs creates the action that wins us the game. Ezri, as well, really composed and really calm with every decision he made. I'm really happy with all of them."
On the importance of early momentum: "Last year was the same, we know how difficult it is to earn points in this league."
On if he expects any business on deadline day: "I disconnected for a day. My focus had to be on the game, we have the right people at the club to look after that."
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal have won their last seven games in the Premier League; their last longer winning streak was from 20 April 2024 to 24 August 2024, a run of eight games.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Bukayo Saka is asked what he thinks of Chelsea this season, to which he simply replied: "We'll see on Sunday."
Click 'Get Involved' on this page to have your say
Lots of negative spotlight on Villa but with the injury list we have and the players yet to fully join the squad, there is hope.
Roz, London
Even when Villa have half of their Europa League winning team, Arsenal still struggle against us at Villa Park. To me, that show a lot of promise for our new Villa squad.
Chay, Birmingham
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Villa fans, if any of you are still here, how are you feeling after that one?
It's an improvement on last week but still a defeat and still no effort on target.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal join Man City, Hull City and Chelsea on maximum points.
Here's the Premier League table after week two.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Tell you what, I'm looking forward to Arsenal v Chelsea on Sunday.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal have scored in their last 18 games in the Premier League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 20 games from 18 August 2018 to 1 January 2019.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Gary Neville
Former England defender on Sky Sports
Aston Villa are just building after losing a lot of players. For Arsenal, that is a statement win, where you just restrict the other team from having any shots on goal. Patient, present, mature. They were just in control.
Arteta will be happy because his team is consistent.
FT: Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal were far from thrilling but they never looked under any sort of pressure.
They'll take some beating this season.
Saka earns Arsenal hard-fought win at Aston Villa
Bukayo 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.
How did match-winner Saka do at Villa Park?
Bukayo Saka has scored three Premier League goals at Villa Park
Aston Villa vs Arsenal: Mikel Arteta post-match interview
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 vs Arsenal: Unai Emery post-match interview
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.
A narrow home defeat by the champions will not have been as alarming as the 4-0 loss at Brighton on the opening day.
But this was the first time Villa failed to have a shot on target in a home Premier League game since May 2016 against Newcastle United under caretaker boss Eric Black – when they had already been relegated.
In fact, they are the first team to not have a shot on target after two Premier League games since Swansea City in 2017-18.
There were debuts for Japan goalkeeper Suzuki and ex-Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson – replacements for the departed Emiliano Martinez and Ollie Watkins.
Suzuki showed both good and bad sides – going for a corner and missing it early on and later spilling a Havertz shot which he gathered at the second attempt.
He also made saves from a Rice header and a Havertz one-on-one chance. On both occasions there was an offence - a foul and offside respectively - but Suzuki still made the stops to be sure.
He also looked confident and comfortable with passing the ball at the back.
Jackson did not have a lot of joy on his Villa bow up front – but Watkins would also have struggled to do anything with little service.
The closest they went was when Buendia crashed his long-range effort off the woodwork, but there had been a tackle just before it that would probably have ruled out a goal, had it come.
Summer signings Alejandro Garnacho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka both came on in the second half for their Villa Park debuts.
Ibrahim Mbaye and Taylor Harwood-Bellis were both watching from the stands at Villa Park and are expected to finalise moves on Tuesday's deadline day.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
| |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 1 |
| |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 1 |
| |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 |
| |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
| |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 |
| |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
| |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
|
Manager:Unai Emery
Formation:4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager:Mikel Arteta
Formation:4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager:Unai Emery
Formation:4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager:Mikel Arteta
Formation:4 - 2 - 3 - 1
High chance of scoring
Medium chance of scoring
Low chance of scoring
Dominant period
Match momentum measures the swing of the match by comparing each team’s threat to see who is more likely to score within that minute. The momentum value is the difference between each team’s most dangerous moment, or team threat, in that minute.
Match momentum measures the swing of the match by comparing each team’s threat to see who is more likely to score within that minute. The momentum value is the difference between each team’s most dangerous moment, or team threat, in that minute.
| Minute | Team with most threat |
|---|---|
Kick off 1' | Arsenal |
2' | Arsenal |
3' | Aston Villa |
4' | Aston Villa |
5' | Aston Villa |
6' | Aston Villa |
7' | Aston Villa |
8' | Arsenal |
9' | Arsenal |
10' | Arsenal |
11' | Arsenal |
12' | Arsenal |
13' | Arsenal |
14' | Arsenal |
15' | Arsenal |
16' | Arsenal |
17' | Arsenal |
18' | Arsenal |
19' | Arsenal |
20' | Arsenal |
21' | Arsenal |
22' | Arsenal |
23' | Arsenal |
24' | Arsenal |
25' | Arsenal |
26' | Arsenal |
27' | Aston Villa |
28' | Arsenal |
29' | Aston Villa |
30' | Aston Villa |
31' | Aston Villa |
32' | Arsenal |
33' | Arsenal |
34' | Arsenal |
35' | Arsenal |
36' | Arsenal |
37' | Arsenal |
38' | Arsenal |
39' | Arsenal |
40' | Arsenal |
41' | Arsenal |
42' | Arsenal |
43' | Aston Villa |
44' | Aston Villa |
45' | Aston Villa |
45'+1 | Aston Villa |
Half time 45'+2 | Aston Villa |
46' | Aston Villa |
47' | Aston Villa |
48' | Aston Villa |
49' | Aston Villa |
50' | Arsenal |
51' | Arsenal |
52' | Arsenal |
53' | Arsenal |
54' | Arsenal |
55' | Arsenal |
56' | Arsenal |
57' | Arsenal |
58' | Aston Villa |
59' | ArsenalGoal |
60' | Arsenal |
61' | Arsenal |
62' | Arsenal |
63' | Arsenal |
64' | Aston Villa |
65' | Aston Villa |
66' | Aston Villa |
67' | Arsenal |
68' | Aston Villa |
69' | Aston Villa |
70' | Aston Villa |
71' | Aston Villa |
72' | Aston Villa |
73' | Aston Villa |
74' | Aston Villa |
75' | Arsenal |
76' | Arsenal |
77' | Arsenal |
78' | Arsenal |
79' | Aston Villa |
80' | Arsenal |
81' | Arsenal |
82' | Arsenal |
83' | Arsenal |
84' | Aston Villa |
85' | Arsenal |
86' | Arsenal |
87' | Aston Villa |
88' | Aston Villa |
89' | Aston Villa |
90' | Aston Villa |
90'+1 | Aston Villa |
90'+2 | Aston Villa |
90'+3 | Aston Villa |
90'+4 | Arsenal |
90'+5 | Aston Villa |
90'+6 | Arsenal |
90'+7 | Arsenal |
90'+8 | Arsenal |
90'+9 | Aston Villa |
Full time 90'+10 | Aston Villa |
Premier League
All competitions
All competitions
Aston Villa have won four of their seven home games against Arsenal since their return to the Premier League in 2019 (L3), more than they had in their first 24 against them at Villa Park in the competition (W3 D9 L12).
Arsenal have won 15 Premier League games at Villa Park, more than they have at an other away venue in the competition.
Aston Villa have won their last three Premier League home games against the reigning champions, as many times as they had in their first 28 (W3 D10 L15).
Aston Villa won at home against Manchester City in both 2023-24 and 2024-25, and beat Liverpool at Villa Park last season. The last team to beat the reigning top-flight champions at home in more successive uninterrupted seasons were Luton Town, who did seven in a row between 1985-86 and 1991-92.
Arsenal have won their first away game in each of the last four Premier League seasons, also keeping a clean sheet each time. The Gunners have never won their opening away game in five consecutive league campaigns before.
Aston Villa were beaten 4-0 on MD1 against Brighton and Hove Albion. The last time they lost their first two league games in a season was in 2019-20, while the last time they lost both without scoring was in 2002-03. The most goals they’ve ever conceded in their first two games was eight in 1982-83, when they were reigning European champions.
Mikel Arteta is set to take charge of his 250th Premier League game, becoming only the 10th manager in the competition’s history to oversee 250 games for a single side. Indeed, only Pep Guardiola (70.8%), Alex Ferguson (65.2%) and Jürgen Klopp (62.6%) have a higher win rate among managers with 250+ games than Arteta’s 60.2% currently (W150 D48 L51).
Aston Villa have failed to score in five of their last six Premier League games in August, including the last four across the last two seasons. Including his time at Arsenal, Unai Emery has lost 50% of his August games (8/16), his highest percentage in one month in the Premier League.
Martin Ødegaard has already matched his Premier League total for goals last season (1 in 24 games) in this season, scoring against Coventry on MD1. Arsenal’s captain hasn’t scored in consecutive league appearances since May 2023.
Despite only coming on in the 68th minute, Noni Madueke created more chances than any other player in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Coventry (4) – since 2003-04, only Aaron Ramsey against Wolves in December 2011 (6 in 19 minutes) has played fewer minutes in a Premier League game for the Gunners while creating 4+ chances.
