Aston Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 at Villa Park to end City's perfect Premier League start
Enzo Maresca lamented costly errors after Manchester City’s unbeaten Premier League run was ended by Aston Villa, who won 2-1 at Villa Park on Saturday.
City had started the season with seven straight league wins before travelling to Birmingham, but two defensive mistakes — from Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma — proved decisive as Nicolas Jackson scored twice for Villa. City dominated possession and created numerous chances, while Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki produced a string of saves to keep the visitors at bay.
The opener arrived in the sixth minute when Guehi’s poor touch allowed John McGinn to win possession and tee up Jackson, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
Erling Haaland drew City level shortly after half-time, heading home Iliman Ndiaye’s cross from a free kick; Haaland had missed Tuesday’s 5-1 Champions League win over AEK Athens with a foot injury and extended a run to his seventh goal in his last seven away league games.
Villa regained the lead on the hour mark when Ibrahim Mbaye broke down the right and cut the ball back for Jackson, whose low shot slipped underneath Donnarumma. City pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages, Ian Maatsen cleared a Haaland header off the line and Suzuki produced further saves as Villa held on.
Maresca accepted City created enough chances but criticised the moments that cost his side. "Performance overall was good, amount of chances we created. Absolutely, both goals were avoidable," Maresca said. "Sometimes you have to be a bit more lucky because we only conceded those two chances. But we created a lot of chances. We played most of the game in their box but you have to be clinical and avoid mistakes like the two goals we conceded." Unai Emery, pleased with his team after a difficult start, said: "Today was a really good test, I was so excited for this test," Emery said. "Today is one step forward." The win moved Villa to sixth on 11 points, marked their first home league victory of the season and was their fourth successive home league win over City; it followed a run in which Villa had lost three of their first four league games.
The defeat leaves City top of the table on 21 points, with Arsenal able to draw level if they beat Everton later on Saturday. City now face two matches against Brighton in quick succession: a League Cup fourth-round tie on Wednesday before meeting them again in the Premier League next Saturday. "A top team, another one," City defender Ruben Dias said. "A different way to play so we'll make the adaptation then focus on ourselves. That's the main thing, our spirit, our will to win."
