Manchester City suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season after Nicolas Jackson led Aston Villa to a 2-1 victory, halting Enzo Maresca’s side’s perfect run and giving their rivals an opportunity to close the gap.
The encounter took place at Villa Park on Saturday evening as part of the eighth round, witnessing Unai Emery’s squad confirm their resurgence with a precious victory over the league leaders, who had entered the match without dropping a single point.
Jackson opened the scoring early in the sixth minute before Erling Haaland brought City back into the match with an equalizer in the 52nd minute. However, the Senegalese striker struck again to give the hosts the lead once more with his second goal in the 60th minute.
City attempted to salvage their record in the closing minutes, but Villa’s defense and goalkeeper Zion Suzuki held firm to preserve the victory; Ian Maatsen cleared a dangerous Haaland header near the end, before the Japanese goalkeeper denied another header from the Norwegian in stoppage time.
The setback comes after seven consecutive victories, through which Maresca set a historic record for the longest winning streak at the start of a manager’s tenure at a Premier League club. However, the trip to Villa Park stopped his attempt to extend that run to an eighth match.
Manchester City remains frozen at 21 points at the top of the table, three points ahead of Arsenal, who could now equal them in points if they defeat Everton, while Brighton pursues them in third with 16 points prior to their match against Liverpool.
On the other hand, Aston Villa raised their tally to 11 points, temporarily moving up to sixth place after starting the round in 12th—a jump that reflects the value of the victory and its ability to pull the team back into contention for European spots.
Remarkably, Villa had collected just one point from their opening four rounds and failed to score in their first three matches, but responded strongly by gathering 10 points from their last four encounters—beating Tottenham, Newcastle, and City, while drawing with Brentford—without suffering a loss during this streak.
The significance of this comeback is heightened considering the extensive changes to their squad during the summer following the departures of key figures such as Emiliano Martínez, Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, and Ollie Watkins. Emery is rebuilding a side capable of competing with the giants, capitalizing on the brilliant form of Jackson and Suzuki alongside a perfect European start featuring three victories in the UEFA Champions League.
