Saka earns hard-fought win for Arsenal at Villa

Bukayo Saka's goal just before the hour mark was enough for champions Arsenal to maintain their perfect start with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park.

This fixture was one of the few matches that the Gunners lost in winning the Premier League title last season but Saka's close-range effort decided what was a tight game despite an improved showing from Unai Emery's much-changed Aston Villa line-up.

Villa were four down after 31 minutes in that astonishing capitulation at Brighton on the opening weekend but they showed far more resilience against the Gunners from the outset. Emiliano Buendia crashed the ball against David Raya's crossbar on 12 minutes.

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Mikel Arteta's men, unchanged from the win over Coventry, were their usual probing selves, asking searching questions from set pieces and controlling possession for long periods. But Gabriel's mistimed header was as close as they came in the first half.

Christos Tzolis was substituted at half-time having been booked and running the risk of a red card after that, but the introduction of Eberechi Eze worked out well. Arsenal ramped up the pressure in the second half with the ever-impressive Saka to the fore.

Arsenal's talisman thought he had won a penalty early in the second half but Ian Maatsen's foul was ruled to be outside the box following a VAR review. It mattered not because he forced in Riccardo Calafiori's centre from close range soon afterwards.

The home side, who included debutants Zion Suzuki and Nicolas Jackson in their starting line-up, pushed for an equaliser but Arsenal, who brought on former Villa man Ezri Konsa late on, stayed strong to claim the win. A show of strength by the champions.

The key moments from Villa Park

12 - BAR! Buendia lashes the ball against Raya's crossbar

56 - VAR! Saka denied penalty as Maatsen's foul is outside box

59 - GOAL! Calafiori's low cross is forced into the net by Saka

75 - MISS! Suzuki saves one-on-one from Havertz but he is off

Arsenal's depth stands out

Tzolis has made a promising start to his Arsenal career but this was a more difficult evening for him. The response from Arteta? Bring on Eze. He helped open it up for Arsenal to win. When Villa pushed, the Arsenal boss turned to Bruno Guimaraes and Mikel Merino to battle it out.

"Guimaraes demonstrated already with a couple of passes he's going to be something very different to what they've already got," said Gary Neville on co-commentary for Sky Sports.

"He cuts through with his passing; he always looks for that furthest forward pass. Arsenal sometimes are guilty of recycling it too much - he won't do that." Different players for different situations. Back-to-back wins for the Gunners show why they are still the team to beat. And they might just have got better.

Suzuki impresses on debut

As Premier League debuts go, replacing World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for a game against the champions Arsenal right in front of the Holte End must be among the more daunting. Suzuki acquitted himself impressively for Aston Villa.

The Japan goalkeeper failed to claim one early cross but when he tipped over a near-post header soon after, the Villa fans were chanting 'the world's number one' - a playful reference to the popular chant that was traditionally directed at Martinez at Villa Park.

There was a little more lustre to the chant later in the first half when Suzuki pinged a pass out to George Hemmings on the left wing - arrowing the ball with extraordinary power. His distribution with both feet already looks likely to be a weapon for the team.

Suzuki did spill one fiercely struck shot in the second half but he denied Kai Havertz when one-on-one - not knowing that the offside flag would go up. Even in defeat, it was an encouraging showing by the new Villa goalkeeper.

What the result means and next fixtures...

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