Arsenal grind out a 1-0 win at Aston Villa as Saka strikes again

No fireworks this time, just enough. Arsenal followed up their opening-night rout of Coventry with a much scrappier 1-0 win at Villa Park, the champions' unbeaten start to the season now two games old.

The only goal came in the 59th minute. Eberechi Eze released Riccardo Calafiori down the left, the Italian slid a low ball across the six-yard box, and Bukayo Saka got there ahead of Villa's defence to finish from close range past new Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.

It was Saka's second goal in as many games, and it was enough. Villa, under Unai Emery, made life difficult all afternoon and had the game's one clear first-half chance, Emiliano Buendía's long-range effort clipping the crossbar, but they could not find an equaliser and finished without a single shot on target.

Match facts

• 59' — Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), assisted by Riccardo Calafiori
• Aston Villa finished without a shot on target
• Emiliano Buendía's crossbar effort was Villa's best chance of the game

How it unfolded

A cagey first half gave both sides little to work with. Arsenal had the ball for long spells but struggled to turn territory into chances, while Villa's best moment arrived out of nothing when Buendía let fly from distance and watched it come back off the bar.

The champions found their rhythm after the break. Declan Rice had already tested Suzuki with a header from a corner before the breakthrough came: Eze down the left, Calafiori's cutback, Saka's finish. From there Arsenal, needing only to see the game out, did exactly that — David Raya was barely troubled and Villa never landed a shot on target all afternoon.

Villa's finishing trouble didn't end at Villa Park

The Saka goal put more than just an early dent in Aston Villa's afternoon. Villa did not register a shot on target in this match, and it turned out to be the first line of a longer story: three matchweeks into the season, Unai Emery's side still had not scored a Premier League goal. The 4-0 opening-day defeat at Brighton produced nothing, this 1-0 loss to Arsenal produced nothing, and a 0-0 draw at Hull City in the following round left Villa's tally after three games at zero goals scored and five conceded — the only attack in the division yet to find the net.

Arsenal kept the run going

For Arsenal, Villa Park turned out to be the middle fixture of a perfect opening month. The champions had already put three past Coventry City on the opening weekend, and they followed the win here with a 2-1 comeback victory over Chelsea at the Emirates, Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard overturning an early Morgan Rogers goal either side of half-time. Three wins from three, six goals scored and only one conceded — a record matched at the top of the table only by Manchester City, who stay above Arsenal purely on goals scored rather than anything the champions have let in. Saka's finish at Villa Park was his second goal in as many games; he did not add to that tally against Chelsea, where Havertz and Ødegaard did the scoring instead.

What's next

Both fixtures played out as scheduled. Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates on 6 September and sit 2nd on 9 points, level with Manchester City in the Champions League places. Aston Villa were held 0-0 by Hull City on 5 September and are 17th on 1 point, still without a goal in the league and just above the relegation zone.