Bukayo Saka scored the only goal at Villa Park as Arsenal beat Aston Villa to make it two Premier League wins and two clean sheets from two.
Bukayo Saka was on target again, making it two goals in as many Premier League games, as Arsenal edged out Aston Villa 1-0 in a gritty contest at Villa Park.
With the first half goalless and Villa holding firm, it was Saka who finally broke through just before the hour, keeping Arsenal’s title defence on track with another three points.
Eberechi Eze, introduced at half-time, played a key role in the decisive goal. There was also a first Premier League appearance for Bruno Guimaraes in Arsenal colours, while Ezri Konsa made his debut late on against the club he left in the summer.
Mikel Arteta stuck with the same starting eleven that swept aside Coventry City 3-0 on opening night of the Premier League. That meant Cristhian Mosquera kept his place alongside Gabriel Magalhaes at centre-back, even with Konsa making the trip with the squad.
Guimaraes was back among the substitutes after injury kept him out against Coventry. Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly once again anchored the midfield behind Martin Odegaard.
Villa, still recovering from a heavy 4-0 loss at Brighton, started brightly and looked the more dangerous side early on.
Emiliano Buendia almost gave Villa the lead after 11 minutes, latching onto a loose ball and sending a first-time strike that grazed the top of David Raya’s crossbar. Arsenal's appeals for a foul on Christos Tzolis moments earlier were waved away.
Saka soon started to trouble Ian Maatsen down the right, firing over not long after Buendia’s chance. Kai Havertz then found space in the box thanks to Odegaard’s pass, but his shot drifted wide and the flag was up anyway.
The Gunners began to see more of the ball as the half wore on, but struggled to carve out clear chances against Zion Suzuki in the Villa goal.
Declan Rice did force Suzuki into a sharp save with a header from Saka’s corner, but the whistle had already gone for a foul by Gabriel. Soon after, Tzolis picked up a yellow card for dragging back Matty Cash after losing the ball.
Nicolas Jackson threatened just before the break, escaping Gabriel down the right, but his low cross evaded everyone in the middle. Arsenal went in at half-time with the scores still level.
Saka Breaks Villa Resistance
Arteta made his first change at the break, replacing Tzolis with Eze.
The tempo lifted after the restart, as the game started to open up.
The Gunners thought they had been handed the chance to take the lead from the penalty spot when Saka got ahead of Maatsen and was brought down as he approached the area.
Referee Jarred Gillett pointed to the spot, only for VAR to rule the foul had started outside the box. Arsenal had to settle for a free-kick, with Odegaard curling his shot just wide.
But they didn’t have to much longer. Two minutes later, they found the breakthrough.
Gabriel fed Eze, who spotted Riccardo Calafiori surging down the left. Calafiori got in front of Victor Lindelof and drilled a low ball across the face of goal. Saka was there, arriving at the back post to tap home in the 59th minute.
That made it two in two for Saka, who also found the net against Coventry on opening night.
Villa couldn’t find an immediate response, and it was Arsenal who looked more likely to add to their lead as the game wore on.
With around 20 minutes left, Arteta turned to his bench, bringing on Guimaraes and Mikel Merino for Lewis-Skelly and Odegaard. It was a Premier League debut for Guimaraes in Arsenal colours.
Guimaraes almost made an instant impact, threading a pass through for Havertz, but Suzuki was quick off his line to keep the score at 1-0.
Konsa was handed his Arsenal debut late on, replacing the injured Mosquera for the closing stages. The Villa Park crowd showed their appreciation for their former player as he came on.
With eight minutes added on, Villa continued to push for an equaliser, but the Gunners stood firm and Raya remained largely untroubled, with Villa managing no shots on target through the night.
The result means Arsenal have taken maximum points from their opening two games. Two clean sheets, two wins, but this one was a very different test to the opening night against Coventry.