The smile on Declan Rice’s face a few minutes from time said it all. The Arsenal midfielder had just shut down Ian Maatsen as the Aston Villa full-back zoomed into the box. Arsenal were hardly imperious, Bukayo Saka scoring the only goal, but Unai Emery’s side struggled to hurt the champions, David Raya untroubled. The records will show Villa have lost their first two league matches of a season without scoring for the first time since 2002 but, despite successive defeats, this time there was no capitulation.
For Villa, this was a marked improvement on defeat at Brighton in their opener. After 31 minutes in their last game, they trailed 4-0 and after 40 were down to 10 men. Here they could take plenty of encouragement from a promising first-half performance, the debutants Zion Suzuki and Nicolas Jackson impressing, having taken the Nos 1 and 11 vacated by Emiliano Martínez and Ollie Watkins respectively. Suzuki’s eye for a pass was particularly noticeable, pinging 50-yard balls to the 19-year-old George Hemmings and John McGinn, the pair operating on opposite flanks.
Suzuki and Jackson were the only changes to Villa’s starting XI but they appeared far more cohesive, Ross Barkley partnering Boubacar Kamara at the base of midfield. Emi Buendía smacked the crossbar after Kamara overawed Christos Tzolis – Martin Ødegaard subsequently asked questions of the referee, Jarred Gillett – but Jackson otherwise created Villa’s best opening. The Senegal forward, who worked under Emery at Villarreal, pinched possession from Gabriel Magalhães a few yards into the Villa half and galloped into the other before sending in a near-perfect cross from the right. Hemmings burst into the six-yard box but was unable to convert. How Villa welcomed having an orthodox striker on the pitch after Watkins’s omission at Brighton.
This was an advert for a new-look Villa, on and off the pitch. A handful of staff in hard hats were positioned in the closed North Stand moonlighting as ball boys; the corner of rubble between the remaining skeleton and the Trinity Road Stand is akin to an excavation site. Ibrahim Mbaye, whose £47m move from Paris Saint-Germain is to be announced on Tuesday, was in the directors’ box. Six of Villa’s starting XI from their Europa League triumph may have departed but Emery has made no complaints and has relayed his no-excuses mantra to his squad. “We do not look backwards,” Villa’s manager said in the buildup.
“Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that,” crowed Villa’s supporters as Arsenal players huddled before kick-off close to the visiting support. Ezri Konsa was on the bench on his return to Villa Park and received a warm welcome as he headed for the away dugout. Suzuki grew into the game, his first action of note failing to claim the ball at a corner, allowing Gabriel to send a header off target. Up the other end Kai Havertz sent a shot wide after a neat pass from Ødegaard at the end of an intricate move, though the Arsenal forward was offside. Matty Cash largely muted Tzolis, such an influence in Arsenal’s previous matches.
Tzolis got little change out of Cash and was booked for bringing him down after the Villa full-back snatched the ball. Cash celebrated winning the free-kick by revving up the home crowd, the stadium’s capacity down to 37,000. Cash had to focus on marking a different opponent in the second half and Tzolis’s replacement, Eberechi Eze, was involved in Arsenal seizing the lead approaching the hour. Arsenal slowed things down and then came alive, punishing Villa for switching off. Cristhian Mosquera pushed a pass to Eze, who Cash afforded space, Villa’s defender concerned about an unmarked Riccardo Calafiori. Eze promptly spied Calafiori’s underlapping run and the Italian steered the ball across the six-yard box, where Saka beat Maatsen to the punch and scrambled the cross into the net.
Five minutes earlier Villa survived a scare. Maatsen clipped Saka’s heels as the winger raced on to Declan Rice’s through ball and Gillett initially awarded a penalty. But a VAR review showed the foul was outside the area and soon the Arsenal players in lemon yellow gathered by the spot moseyed towards the edge of Villa’s 18-yard box. Ødegaard sent the free-kick into the side netting. Mikel Merino and Bruno Guimarães arrived from the bench as Villa pushed for an equaliser. Up the other end Suzuki made a mess of a routine save from Havertz but almost instantly made amends, diverting Havertz’s shot wide after the forward, subsequently flagged offside, was released on goal.
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Villa’s frustrations were palpable. McGinn, in a hurry to get Villa level, was booked for wiping out Merino. Aaron Wan-Bissaka replaced Cash for his Villa debut, his first job to stretch his legs and muffle an advancing Eze. Alejandro Garnacho entered in place of Barkley. Arteta, too, changed personnel, Konsa coming on for his debut for Mosquera. Villa could not find a way past Arsenal, whose winning habit already appears ominous.