Champions Arsenal made it two wins out of two as Bukayo Saka’s second-half goal earned them a workmanlike 1-0 victory at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Monday.
The England international slid the ball into a near-empty net in the 59th minute from a 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.
“Really happy, this was a massive win,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who claimed his 151st win in 250 Premier League games in charge, said. “I think we deserved it. It was a great squad performance. I know how tough it is to win here.”
For Villa boss Unai Emery, who waved goodbye to Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martinez this week following the earlier departures of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Konsa, there were hopeful signs.
It was a huge improvement on last week when they were four goals down by halftime at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Villa have made 11 new signings during the summer and it will take time for Emery to rebuild the side but the Spaniard remained upbeat despite a second loss.
