Saka makes the diference as Arsenal down Villa to maintain winning start

BIRMINGHAM, England — Arsenal battled past a stuffy Aston Villa 1-0 and maintained its winning start to the Premier League on Monday.

It was a hard-fought win for the reigning champion, for which Bukayo Saka's 59th minute goal was decisive.

The win kept Arsenal joint top of the table, one of four teams with six points from two games, and left Villa pointless and, more worryingly for coach Unai Emery, without a shot on target so far.

More than half of the players who started Villa's Europa Cup win in May have since left the club and Emery faces a daunting rebuild.

Two of his new signings started against Arsenal, Nicolas Jackson taking the striker's role and Zion Suzuki replacing goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Host Villa began busily with Emiliano Buendia cracking one long-range effort against the bar but Arsenal came into the game as the half wore on and ended the better of the two sides without really threatening Suzuki, who made history by becoming the first Japanese goalkeeper to play in the Premier League.

That pattern continued in the second half and the visitor thought it had a penalty with nine minutes gone when Ian Maatsen felled Saka.

The award was downgraded to a free kick after a video review but Saka was not to be stopped. With almost an hour gone, he bundled home from close range after neat interplay between Eberechi Eze and Riccardo Calafiori.

Neither side managed to dominate the match and clearcut chances were few.

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