Manchester City’s flawless start to the Premier League season was ended in a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday that allowed Arsenal to join them at the top of the table with victory over Everton.
Enzo Maresca had become the first manager to win his first seven Premier League games in charge of a new club but failed to find a solution to City’s struggles at Villa Park, where they have now lost for the past four seasons.
Nicolas Jackson struck twice for Unai Emery’s men to continue a fine run of form for a new-look Villa side.
Erling Haaland briefly levelled early in the second half, but Maresca was left to rue City not making more of their dominance for large spells of the game.
“We lost because we probably are not being clinical enough in their box,” said Maresca.
The Villa side that won the Europa League last season was decimated by high-profile departures during the transfer window.
But Emery has quickly moulded his new squad into shape with Jackson proving his critics from a difficult spell at Chelsea wrong.
The Senegal international pounced on an error by Marc Guehi to fire Villa ahead after just six minutes.
Another of Villa’s new signings Zion Suzuki then thwarted City with a string of stunning saves.
Haaland headed in his 13th goal in 10 games this season to equalise.
Villa, though, swiftly responded as Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to keep out Jackson’s low shot on the hour mark.
“A fantastic day to share with our supporters in Villa Park,” said Emery.
“We felt that this is our fortress and the energy the supporters gave us was really fantastic.”
– Arsenal’s set-piece prowess –
Arsenal took advantage to move alongside City on 21 points from eight games with a routine 2-0 win against Everton.
Shorn of the creative inspiration of Bukayo Saka, who is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a thigh injury, Arsenal had to rely on their set-piece prowess to get the job done.
Ezri Konsa bundled in his first goal for the club after Everton failed to clear a corner to open the scoring on seven minutes.
Fellow centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes doubled the lead for Mikel Arteta’s men midway through the second period.
Fulham further eased the pressure on manager Alvaro Arbeloa with a 1-0 win at Coventry thanks to Oscar Bobb’s individual effort.
A second consecutive victory propels the Cottagers out of the relegation zone and up to 12th.
Tottenham are also seeking to escape the bottom three when they travel to Chelsea in the evening kick-off, aiming to improve on a terrible record at Stamford Bridge.
On Sunday the focus turns on Manchester United boss Michael Carrick when his side take on Bournemouth.
A seven-game winless streak has plunged Carrick’s future into doubt just months after he was hired on a two-year deal after a successful interim spell in charge at the end of last season.
AFP
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