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
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