EPL: Emery's Men End Citizens' Perfect Premier League Start At Villa Park
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| Jackson stars as Villa halt Man City winning run with victory |
Manchester City's quest to become only the eighth English top-flight side to win their first eight games of the season came to an end at Villa Park, as Aston Villa dug deep to secure their first Premier League home win with a statement victory.
Villa end City's 100% start, Jackson scores twice in 2-1 win at Villa Park...
Nicolas Jackson scored twice as Aston Villa extended their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions with a 2-1 win over Manchester City, ending the champions' perfect start to the Premier League season on matchday eight.
Man City had looked unstoppable in the league so far this term, but they were quickly stopped in their tracks in the early stages at Villa Park.
City almost completed the turnaround when Josko Gvardiol's fierce strike was tipped onto the bar by Suzuki, and that save proved crucial as Villa went straight up the other end minutes later to retake the lead through Jackson, whose low drive squirmed under Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Suzuki was proving almost unbeatable in the Villa goal, reacting sharply to stop Gvardiol from poking home a loose ball inside the box.
A loose touch from Marc Guehi was ruthlessly punished as Jackson drove into the box, sat Elliot Anderson down and blasted his finish into the roof of the net.
City were not about to take that lightly and almost hit back straight away through Iliman Ndiaye, who cut in from the right and curled a left-footed effort towards the far post that forced a superb flying save from Zion Suzuki.
Suzuki was called upon again midway through the first half, diving low to his left to deny Rayan Cherki after he had been picked out in the area by Jeremy Doku.
Enzo Maresca's side stuck to their approach after going behind, and in almost identical fashion to his earlier effort, Ndiaye cut in from the right and curled another left-footed shot towards the far post, only for it to crash back off the woodwork.
Being behind at the break was not necessarily fatal for City, with 88% of their away league goals this season having come in the second half, so the game was far from over.
And City underlined that within 10 minutes of the restart, when a cleverly worked free-kick found Ndiaye, who delivered a perfect cross for Erling Haaland to attack at the far post and head home the equaliser.
City almost completed the turnaround when Josko Gvardiol's fierce strike was tipped onto the bar by Suzuki, and that save proved crucial as Villa went straight up the other end minutes later to retake the lead through Jackson, whose low drive squirmed under Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Suzuki was proving almost unbeatable in the Villa goal, reacting sharply to stop Gvardiol from poking home a loose ball inside the box.
It was backs to the wall for Villa in the closing stages, but Unai Emery's side held firm to see out the result.
Villa were forced to survive one final scare when Haaland's header looked destined for the net, only for Ian Maatsen to produce a heroic clearance off the line. That proved to be the last major moment as Emery's men held on to claim their first home Premier League win of the season at Villa Park, while ensuring City missed out on becoming just the eighth team in English top-flight history to win their first eight league matches.
Nicolas Jackson's double gives @AstonVilla the win against Man City! https://t.co/vlAki1sgLQ
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 24, 2026
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