Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal: Saka’s second half strike enough for three points

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction

Arsenal made it two wins from two in the Premier League yesterday, coming away from Villa Park with a 1-0 win thanks to a second half goal from Bukayo Saka.

Mikel Arteta named an unchanged side from the one that beat Coventry 3-0 on the opening day, but with Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa added to the bench at the expense of Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman. Villa, despite all the changes, were solid enough and played quite well in the opening stages, but there wasn’t a lot going on in the first half.

Emi Buendia cracked a shot off the bar, but it looked like there was an obvious foul on Christos Tzolis in the build-up. Whether it would have been pulled back if the outcome of the shot had been different is a moot point this morning, but I will say I didn’t quite share Thierry Henry’s confidence when he spoke about it on Sky at half-time. The Greek international picked up a very soft booking for a foul on Matty Cash, and when the roles were reversed and the Villa man went through the back of him, I was a bit flummoxed as to why the referee decided he’d have a word with our player rather than the man who made the foul.

When Tzolis was involved in another incident with John McGinn, the Villa captain did his best – in pure playground snitch fashion – to try and get Tzolis sent off. To be fair, the ref wasn’t convinced by the argument, but I fully understood Mikel Arteta’s decision to make a half-time change and bring on Eberechi Eze on the left-hand side. After a good start last week, this game will remind the new signing you have to work so hard to be effective in the Premier League.

The second half wasn’t much more action packed. We didn’t click the way we did against Coventry, up front Kai Havertz made the runs but found himself offside a bit too often, and down the right – where we wanted to do most of our attacking – the Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard triangle wasn’t as effective as it was in our previous game. We did get awarded a penalty, but that was overturned when replays showed the foul took place just outside the box, and Odegaard curled the resulting free kick just wide with the keeper rooted to the spot. So, I suppose it’s fitting the goal came from the other side, where Riccardo Calafiori’s relentless final third movement paid dividends.

After we recycled possession in their half, Cristhian Mosquera played a smart pass to Eze, who then spotted the run of Calafiori off the back of Cash, and found him with precision. On the stretch he pulled it back into a dangerous area where Saka’s smart run saw him get there first to poke to the ball home for the only goal of the game. That’s two goals in two games for Saka, and two assists in two games for Calafiori who set up Havertz’s opener against Coventry. The Italian has always caught the eye in terms of how he plays, but adding that kind of end product elevates his game and his importance to this team.

We then saw a Premier League debut for Guimaraes who replaced Myles Lewis-Skelly with around 20 minutes of normal time remaining, and I think we saw glimpses of why he was signed. I thought Myles was good again, very tidy in possession, but perhaps just a little risk averse with his passing. Bruno added something a bit extra, one pass for Havertz sent the German through on goal where his shot was saved when he should have scored (albeit the flag went up afterwards), and there was one from the edge of the box which found Saka’s clever run and created danger. He also had one big defensive moment which he seemed to enjoy a great deal.

I also think he should have had a penalty right at the death when he was subjected to a flying tackle from a Villa player who got all of the man and none of the ball, and I cannot understand how, even if the ref didn’t see it, VAR managed to check and clear the incident. Then again, I didn’t understand where the hell eight minutes of added time came from either, and we faced a nervy last part of the game, somewhat reminiscent of many last season. I will say though, I didn’t feel anywhere near as anxious about it last night as I did then – which might be down to winning the title, of course, or maybe I just felt confident we always had Villa’s very minimal threat contained.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

I think it was a squad victory and everybody that was involved in the game in any capacity made a difference for us. That’s a big message for all of us because with the depth that we have and with the quality that we have, if you really make that count, that’s going to be a massive boost for us.

And he referenced how the painful defeat at Villa Park last season played a part:

Well that was in my tummy and I spoke to the players about it. That image when the players were on the floor totally gutted. It was a really difficult one to take and we used that to bring energy, to bring more conviction and belief to understand the difficulty of the challenge that we had ahead, especially against a team that was so successful last year and then they lost a few days ago in a really big way. You expect a reaction and this stadium is a really difficult one, one for the big matches and they make those moments count. Today when we had to suffer, we did suffer and when we had to be really dominant, we were. So I’m really pleased.

I think the point about Villa reacting to what happened last week is important, because for all the change and with the key players they lost, a measure of instability was going to have to be something to contend with. They did it through workrate and effort, and while we weren’t at our best, they also made it tough. Not to mention that when you look at some of the players they’ve brought in who weren’t available last night, this probably was a decent time to go there, and ultimately we’ve come away with all three points. A solid, if unspectacular, night’s work.

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So, today is transfer deadline day, of course, and the manager was asked about potential additions, saying:

We’re trying to improve the squad – until tomorrow night we’re going to try to do that. I’ve been disconnected from the world for 24 hours because I think my energy probably has to be on the match, but I will get back on it now.

We are being linked strongly with a move for Lyon’s Malick Fofana, a 21 year left-sided winger, but reports say there isn’t ‘universal’ acceptance internally about his arrival. It does feel like the kind of deal you’d only do late in a window when you’re about to let two attacking options go, and your depth is compromised a bit. Also, when your manager has coveted players like Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez throughout the summer, and this is where you end up, I guess you can understand why there might be some reservations in certain quarters.

Whether there’s anything else stirring, or anyone else of interest, we’ll have to wait and see. There are also some players set to go out, with Ethan Nwaneri linked with a loan to Borussia Dortmund, on top of the Martinelli/Jesus situations. We will be keeping you up to date with any ins, and the departures as well, on our transfer deadline day live blog which is up and running now on Arseblog News. Like gluttons for punishment, we’ll be there until 11pm tonight. Someone bring the coffee and amphetamines!

We’ll also have an Arsecast Extra for you too. We’ve already put out the call for questions on BlueSky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com, so fire away using the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.

The pod should be out mid-morning. For now, have a good one.

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