Saka strikes as flawless Arsenal punish troubled Villa

Arsenal extended their flawless start to the Premier League season as Bukayo Saka sealed the champions’ 1-0 win against troubled Aston Villa on Monday.

Saka’s second-half strike at Villa Park wrapped up Arsenal’s second successive victory.

In a statement of intent to their title rivals, Mikel Arteta’s side have taken maximum points from their opening two games without conceding a goal.

It was the ideal way for Arteta to mark his 250th league game in charge of the Gunners.

Arteta had picked the same starting line-up that cruised to a 3-0 win against Coventry in their season opener 10 days earlier.

Saka was on the scoresheet in that victory and once again the England winger delivered a valuable contribution.

Underlining the quality at Arteta’s disposal, England centre-back Ezri Konsa came off the bench in the closing stages for his Arsenal debut against his former club after leaving Villa in a £51 million ($69 million) move on August 21.

Arsenal will face the first serious test of their ability to retain the title on Sunday when they host London rivals Chelsea, who have also won their first two matches.

By then, Arsenal could be bolstered by another new arrival as they continue to track unsettled Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline.

The only concern for Arteta was a potential injury that forced Declan Rice to limp off in the closing stages.

For Villa, the feeling of frustration is growing after a second consecutive defeat.

Unai Emery’s team slumped to a 4-0 loss at Brighton in their opener in the midst of the club’s astonishing summer sale.

Motivated in part by the need to keep in line with Premier League financial rules, Villa have ripped apart their Europa League-winning squad, selling Konsa, Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Martinez, Lucas Digne and Youri Tielemans.

Villa look a shadow of the vibrant team that ended their 30-year trophy drought last term, leaving Emery with a daunting job on his hands.

In keeping with the sense of a club under renovation, one end of Villa Park was closed to fans on Monday due to building work to increase the capacity.

Ruthless Arsenal

Nicolas Jackson made his Villa debut after arriving from Chelsea as Watkins’s replacement in attack, while Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, a recent signing from Parma, was given his maiden appearance.

Villa winger Emiliano Buendia lashed a fierce strike against the crossbar in a rocky start for Arsenal.

The Gunners eventually recovered their composure and Villa defender Pau Torres was forced to make a superb block to stop Christos Tzolis tapping in Saka’s cross.

Arsenal appealed in vain for a penalty when Riccardo Calafiori tumbled under contact from Torres late in the first half.

After his side showed a distinct lack of cutting edge in the opening period, Arteta replaced Tzolis with Eberechi Eze at the interval.

The change made an impact and Victor Lindelof needed to make a last-ditch intervention to stop Kai Havertz converting Rice’s pass.

Martin Odegaard curled a free-kick inches wide after VAR overturned the initial decision to award a penalty for Ian Maatsen’s barge on Saka because the foul took place just outside the area.

It was only a temporary reprieve for Villa as Saka broke the deadlock at the climax of a perfectly constructed raid in the 59th minute.

Eze’s pass picked out Calafiori’s run into the Villa area and the defender’s low cross was poked in by Saka from close range.

Havertz’s blast was saved by Suzuki before Konsa made his debut to a mix of boos and applause from conflicted Villa fans.

With Konsa helping to shutdown Villa’s forwards, Arsenal were able to wrap up a gritty success.

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