Bukayo Saka’s second goal in as many games drove Arsenal to a 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park on Monday in Week 2 of the Premier League season.
It was a physical game without much room to operate for either team, and the pace slowed to a crawl once Arsenal found its opener.
Emery’s much-changed Villans fall to 0-0-2 on the young season, while Arsenal finish the day behind first-place Manchester City on tiebreakers.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal final score: 0-1
Bukayo Saka 59'
What’s next?
Villa head to Hull City at 12:30pm ET Saturday before a UEFA Champions League trip to Club Brugge.
Arsenal host Chelsea at 11:30am Sunday, then go to Napoli to begin their Champions League campaign.
The Gunners find their goal then seal up the back in a final 30 minutes closer to slog than anything else.
Shots finish 7-7 but Arsenal don’t concede a shot on David Raya’s goal.
There will be eight more minutes of this, at least.
Martin Zubimendi was Arsenal’s last sub, replacing Declan Rice.
Off go Matty Cash and Ross Barkley for Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Alejandro Garnacho in the 78th minute.
Cristhian Mosquera will not be able to finish this game, grabbing at the back of his leg.
Ezri Konsa is introduced as a Gunner at Villa Park and the response is a noisy mix of applause and boos.
Bruno Guimaraes and Mikel Merino enter the game for Myles Lewis-Skelly and Martin Odegaard.
Villa make two moves, too, with Tammy Abraham and Alysson coming in for George Hemmings and Nicolas Jackson.
Into the 72nd minute with Arsenal up a goal.
The goal has brough Villa forward, and a penalty shout goes unheeded by the referee and VAR.
Ben White had a hold of Ian Maatsen’s arm and the Villa man hits the deck.
Villa continue to keep the ball but cannot find their way into the 18 with venom.
The Gunners break through before the hour mark.
A nice move on the left side, as Cristhian Mosquera finds Eze, who slides Ricardo Calafiori toward the end line.
The Italian cuts the ball to the top of the six, where Saka’s darted in front of Maatsen and beats Zion Suzuki.
It’s not offside but will not be a penalty as the foul is being deemed to have occurred just outside the 18.
Free kick to the Gunners in the 56th minute.
Bukayo Saka comes together with Ian Maatsen, who remains on the turf.
Declan Rice played Saka into the box and Maatsen’s arm gets into the Arsenal man’s lower back.
It seems likely to stand unless Saka is offside.
Tzolis is out of the game after his yellow card, and Eberechi Eze is the halftime entry for Arsenal.
Will he be the difference maker for the Gunners in this 0-0?
A pretty sleepy first half from the Gunners, who have Bruno Guimaraes, Eberechi Eze, and Viktor Gyokeres amongst their bench options.
There have been just seven shot attempts in the game and the hosts have three of them, though Arsenal have held 68% of the ball.
And Villa are doing this without Johan Manzambi and Joao Gomez.
Arsenal are up to 65% possession but have met a Villa team ready to play physical and seek counter-attacking opportunities.
Matty Cash presses Christos Tzolis on the right side and leaves a knee under the Belgian’s thigh for good measure.
It’s a foul — Villa’s seventh without a yellow card. Tzolis, ironically, has been cautioned as one of Arsenal’s four fouls.
0-0, 39'
Two dangerous chances for the Gunners in the first 14 minutes have been defied by the AR’s flag.
So far, there have been five shot attempts, two by the Villans.
Villa in their claret and blue are going left to right, with Arsenal pressing right to left in their yellow tops and dark blue shorts.
Nicolas Jackson and Zion Suzuki both start for their new club, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Alejandro Garnacho, and Matteo Ruggeri wait their turn from the bench.
Starting XI
Suzuki
Cash
Lindelof
Torres
Maatsen
Kamara
Barkley
McGinn
Hemmings
Buendia
Jackson
Subs: Bizot, Mings, Ruggeri, Garnacho, Abraham, Bogarde, Wan-Bissaka, Alysson, Lynch
No surprises here: the Gunners are unchanged,
Starting XI
Raya
White
Mosquera
Magalhaes
Calafiori
Rice
Lewis-Skelly
Odegaard
Saka
Tzolis
Havertz
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Hincapie, Konsa, Zubimendi, Guimaraes, Merino, Eze, Madueke, Gyokeres
Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery have gone head-to-head nine times — twice when Emery led Villarreal and seven times since the Spaniard was hired by Villa.
Emery’s Villarreal triumphed over two legs in the 2020-21 Europa League semifinals with a draw at the Emirates and a win in Spain, and things have been even in the Premier League.
The teams are 3W-1D-3L, though Arsenal are 2-1-1 over the last two seasons including an Arsenal win at Villa Park in Week 2 of the 2024-25 season.
Mikel Arteta has had some memorable battles with former Arsenal manager Emery, and he knows a wounded Villa is a dangerous one.
“[Emery] is one of the most experienced managers in the league, and one of the most successful without a shadow of a doubt,” Arteta said. “What Villa did last year and how they finished, it was an incredible season. It’s just one game and that’s it - I’m sure he will turn it around.”
Emiliano Buendia was the hero for Aston Villa the last time Arsenal paid a visit to Villa Park, and he’s buzzing for this season’s home opener.
“First match at home with our fans against the champions from last year, so it’s going to be a really great game,” Buendia said. “We have to look forward to it.
“The result was amazing last year, with that goal at the end. The feeling was incredible personally, and I think for everyone at Villa Park, so hopefully we can repeat this year. We have the experience of last season’s victory, so we want the same.”
Kick off time: 3pm ET Monday (August 31)
Venue: Villa Park — Birmingham
TV Channel: USA
Stream link: Watch on USA
