Arsenal edge past Villa to maintain perfect start | OneFootball

Arsenal made it two Premier League wins from two as Bukayo Saka’s second-half goal secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at Villa Park.

The hosts started brightly and came closest to breaking the deadlock before the interval when Emiliano Buendia rattled the crossbar with a long-range strike.

The Gunners struggled to create much going forward, with neither side managing a shot on target during a quiet opening 45 minutes.

Mikel Arteta introduced Eberechi Eze at the break, but Villa continued to look dangerous without seriously testing David Raya.

Shortly before the hour mark, Ian Maatsen was initially penalised for bringing down Saka inside the area, only for VAR to overturn the penalty after confirming the foul had taken place just outside the box.

Arsenal did not have to wait long for their breakthrough. Riccardo Calafiori burst forward and sent a low ball across the face of goal, allowing Saka to get a touch and bundle it over the line for his second goal in as many league games.

Villa pushed for a response, but Arsenal defended well. Zion Suzuki kept the hosts in the contest with a superb save to deny Kai Havertz, yet the Gunners held on comfortably to maintain their perfect start.

Incidents: The story of the match

Aston Villa Official Line-ups:

Zion Suzuki, Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Victor Lindelöf, Ian Maatsen, Boubacar Kamara, Ross Barkley, Emiliano Buendía, John McGinn, George Hemmings, Nicolas Jackson

Arsenal Official Line-ups:

David Raya, Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Christos Tzolis

1':

The match begins

Arsenal takes the lead 1-0 against Aston Villa with a right-footed shot from very close range by Bukayo Saka.

59':

GOAL Arsenal: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) scores!

Bukayo Saka scores goal number 2 in the competition (2 matches) Bukayo Saka scores goal number 84 for his team (316 matches)

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match