Arsenal continued their perfect start to their Premier League title defense after returning from Villa Park with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Aston Villa in the final match of Matchday 2.
Mikel Arteta’s side had to wait until the 59th minute to break the home side’s resilience, when Riccardo Calafiori surged forward to collect a pass inside the box before drilling a low cross for Bukayo Saka to finish from close range.
The goal raised Saka’s Premier League tally to 62 goals, bringing him level with David Beckham and Arsenal legend Robert Pires in the competition’s all-time scoring charts.
Arsenal accumulated 6 points from their opening two fixtures, having kicked off the season with a 3–0 win over Coventry City before edging Aston Villa 1–0. They sit in second place on goal difference behind Manchester City while maintaining consecutive clean sheets.
Conversely, Aston Villa’s difficult start continued with a second straight defeat, following a 4–0 loss to Brighton on opening weekend, leaving them bottom in 20th place with zero points, zero goals scored, and 5 goals conceded.
Arsenal face a stern test on Matchday 3 when they host Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, September 6, 2026, at 18:30 Cairo time.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa travel to face Hull City on Saturday, September 5, at 19:30 Cairo time, in search of their first points and goal of the new campaign.
