Saka gives Arsenal a narrow win at Aston Villa

Bukayo Saka’s second Premier League goal of the season gave Arsenal a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at Villa Park and preserved the champions’ winning start.

Arsenal built the decisive attack through Cristhian Mosquera’s pass to Eberechi Eze. Eze used Riccardo Calafiori’s movement inside to release the fullback, who reached the byline and sent the ball into the area. Saka moved ahead of Ian Maatsen and scored in the 59th minute.

Aston Villa had tried to take control from the opening stages. John McGinn sent a shot over the bar in the seventh minute, while Maatsen came close to conceding a penalty for bringing down Saka in the area five minutes before the goal. The video assistant referee reviewed the incident but did not call referee Jarred Gillett to the monitor.

The match also marked Ezri Konsa’s Arsenal debut against the club where he spent seven years and made his Premier League debut. Villa supporters applauded the defender after his move, reportedly worth almost 60 million euros.

With the transfer window closing on Sept. 1, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta left open the possibility of another signing. “We are trying to improve the squad and until tomorrow night, we are going to try to do that,” he said. Arsenal have also signed Bruno Guimarães and Christos Tzolis, while Villa fielded several new arrivals, including Zion Suzuki, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Alejandro Garnacho and Nicolas Jackson.

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We are trying to improve the squad and until tomorrow night, we are going to try to do that.