Aston Villa 0 Arsenal 1: Villa beaten in home opener

After two Premier League matches Villa are not only awaiting their first point but their first shot on target.

Nobody said the rebuild would be easy.

Monday night’s 1-0 defeat to champions Arsenal was, by almost any measure, a vast improvement on the opening day 4-0 defeat at Brighton.

But there still feels some way to go before Unai Emery’s team can begin thinking of challenging toward the top end of the table.

Bukayo Saka’s goal just before the hour mark was enough to win the match for the Gunners, who perhaps understandably always had a greater cohesion than their still in-development hosts.

Even the presence of new striker signing Nicolas Jackson wasn’t quite enough to spark the Villa attack, which despite some bright moments was not able to sustain the kind of pressure which might have forced a breakthrough.

An early Emi Buendia shot which crashed against the bar was the closest they came.

Emery will believe more time on the training ground, coupled with the additions of Johan Manzambi and Ibrahim Mbaye, will give his side the necessary teeth.

It is not only the Villa team which is in the redevelopment stage. Villa Park is a three-sided ground for the season, with the North Stand closed.It was into the building site John McGinn sent the first shot of the game, after George Hemmings had pressured Ben White into an error.

That meant work for one of the four workmen stationed behind the goal, tasked with retrieving lost footballs.

They were busy again when Emi Buendia took advantage of hesitation in the Arsenal defence to hammer a shot from 25 yards out which crashed off the top of the bar.

It was certainly a big improvement on the previous week, though Villa were still to register their first attempt on target of the season.

Their own keeper, Zion Suzuki, got a little fortunate when dealing with the visitors’ first corner of the match. After he missed the punch, Gabriel was unable to get his header on target.

Arsenal were dominating possession but Villa standing firm, their effort epitomised by right-back Matty Cash, who won the ball off Christos Tzolis and then drew the first yellow card of the game when he was pulled back by the Greece international.

Tzolis was then a little fortunate to escape a second yellow when John McGinn tumbled under his challenge. Referee Jarred Gillett did not deem it a foul. Tzolis was replaced by Eberechi Eze at the break.

Ian Maatsen fired over for Villa at the start of a second period in which he would be involved in several talking points.

The first came when he was adjudged to have fouled Saka, as the England international tried to reach Declan Rice’s through ball. Referee Gillett initially pointed to the spot, before VAR intervened and ruled the offence had taken place outside the box. Martin Odegaard swung the free-kick over the wall and just past the post.

Villa survived but soon after would not get so lucky as Arsenal finally played their way through. Rice laid on a pass for Calafiori and he squared for Saka, sliding in ahead of Maatsen, to finish.

The hosts were in the game but struggling in attack, too often picking the wrong option. McGinn was played into the box but could not get the shot away. The ball fell to Cash but his effort was well off target.

Suzuki had a scare when he failed to hold a powerful Kai Havertz drive.

Emery introduced Alysson, Alejandro Garnacho and Tammy Abraham off the bench but there was a sense Arsenal always had them at arm’s length.

Villa: (4-2-3-1): Suzuki, Cash (Wan-Bissaka 78), Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen, Barkley, Kamara, McGinn, Buendia (Garnacho 78), Hemmings (Alysson 71), Jackson (Abraham 71) Subs: Ruggeri, Mings, Bogarde, Lynch, Bizot (gk).

Arsenal: Raya, White, Mosquera (Konsa 79), Gabriel, Calafiori, Odegaard (Merino 71), Rice (Zubimendi 85), Lewis-Skelly (Guimaraes 71), Saka, Havertz, Tzolis (Eze HT) Subs not used: Hincapie, Gyokeres, Konsa, Madueke, Kepa (gk).