Aston Villa 2-1 Man City: Nicolas Jackson brace ends City's 100% start

Nicolas Jackson continued his red hot form with a match-winning brace, as Aston Villa ended Manchester City’s 100 per cent league start with a 2-1 victory at Villa Park.

John McGinn pickpocketed Marc Guehi to set-up Jackson for the opening goal in the sixth-minute, before Iliman Ndiaye and Josko Gvardiol hit the woodwork for City in either half.

Erling Haaland headed the Citizens level in the 52nd-minute, but Ibrahim Mbaye marked his emergence from the bench with an excellent low cross for Jackson to score the decider nine minutes later.

That meant City suffered their first defeat of the season in the Premier League, as Villa extended their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions (winning six).

Johan Manzambi recovered from a knock to return, as Unai Emery made four changes from their win over Viking in the Champions League on his fourth-anniversary in the Villa dugout.

Ian Maatsen made his comeback from injury, while Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara were also recalled.

Villa hit the front early on when McGinn was alert to the hesitancy of Guehi. The England international took a heavy touch, which McGinn duly seized upon, before slipping his pass into the path of Jackson.

Jackson faced a tight angle, but lifted his finish over Donnarumma to provide Villa with an early advantage.

Ndiaye twice came close to restoring parity for Man City. First, the Senegalese winger forced a smart diving save from Zion Suzuki, before chopping inside and clipping the outside of the post.

Suzuki made another important stop when he managed to hold a low finish from Rayan Cherki following Jeremy Doku’s cutback.

Villa still posed a threat on the counter-attack and McGinn constantly looked to find the runs in behind from Jackson.

That same combination almost led to a great opportunity to extend their lead, before Guehi was cautioned for pulling Jackson down just outside the box.

City equalised seven minutes into the second half when Haaland scored with his first real sight of goal. Manzambi was unable to get out to Ndiaye, who hung an inviting cross for Haaland to tower above Victor Lindelof and head in his ninth league goal of the season.

Gvardiol then had a fierce shot tipped on to the crossbar by Suzuki and Doku curled another low attempt wide.

But Villa weathered the mini-storm in the wake of City’s leveller and restored their lead through Jackson just past the hour-mark.

Mbaye had been introduced just moments before when Jackson sent him racing away down the right channel with a sweeping pass forward. He timed and weighed his cutback to perfection and Jackson provided the finishing touches with a low drive under Donnarumma.

Suzuki was quick to foil Gvardiol at his feet after Doku’s low cross deflected invitingly into his path, but the best chance to snatch a point came at the death.

Phil Foden delivered from the by-line and Haaland saw his towering header cleared virtually on the line by Maatsen.

Next, Villa travel to Dean Court when they face AFC Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday night.

Teams

Villa (4-2-3-1): Suzuki, Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen; Kamara, Gomes (Goretzka 82); McGinn (c - Barkley 66), Manzambi (Buendia 66), Alysson (Mbaye 59); Jackson (Madjo 82).

Not used: Bizot, Mings, Bogarde, Hemmings.

Man City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias (c), Guehi (Lewis 46), Gvardiol; Fernandez, Anderson; Doku, Cherki (Foden 46), Ndiaye (McAidoo 69); Haaland.

Not used: Rulli, Kovacic, Ait-Nouri, Reis, Bouaddi, O’Reilly.

Referee: Peter Bankes

Attendance: 36,743