Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester City: Jackson Double Punishes Guéhi and Donnarumma Blunders as City's Perfect Start Ends
Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester City — Manchester City's perfect Premier League start came to a shuddering halt at Villa Park on Saturday, as Nicolas Jackson scored in either half to hand Unai Emery's side a 2-1 victory and end Enzo Maresca's flawless opening to the campaign.
Jackson's double was built on two glaring City errors: a dismal touch from Marc Guéhi for the sixth-minute opener and some weak goalkeeping from Gianluigi Donnarumma for his second goal on the hour. Erling Haaland briefly drew City level at the start of the second half, but Villa struck again and clung on to deny the visitors a place in the record books.
City had arrived unbeaten, and victory would have made them only the third team ever to start a Premier League campaign with eight straight wins. It did not take long for the suspect defending that has dogged them this season to resurface, as a dreadful individual error from Guéhi led to Villa's breakthrough.
Two Errors, Two Goals
Guéhi was under no pressure as he looked to bring down a chipped pass from Rúben Dias, but he knocked the ball off his standing leg and into the path of John McGinn, who immediately released Jackson. The Senegal international still had plenty to do, but he skipped inside Elliot Anderson and lashed into the roof of the net from close range.
Jackson dragged another effort wide, but it was City who spent much of the first half pushing for a goal. Zion Suzuki did brilliantly to tip Iliman Ndiaye's curler around the post and was later fortunate to see a near-identical effort from the same player strike the upright. Between those close calls, Suzuki held Rayan Cherki's shot under pressure from Haaland, while Abdukodir Khusanov also called the in-form Villa goalkeeper into action.
City's 29 touches in the Villa area during the first half were the most by any team in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game this season, and their pressure finally told in the 52nd minute, as Ndiaye's hanging cross from the right was nodded home by Haaland for his 13th goal of the season.
City had a glorious chance to go 2-1 up when Josko Gvardiol's shot was pushed onto the crossbar by Suzuki, but Villa then struck at the other end – with another error costing the visitors. Jackson's clever pass released Ibrahim Mbaye down the right flank, and when the Villa substitute supplied a return ball into the middle, Jackson's shot was straight at Donnarumma. However, the Italian went down awkwardly and let it squirm beneath him.
City were restricted to half chances from then on, with Suzuki smothering the ball at Gvardiol's feet and Ian Maatsen clearing a Haaland header off his line, as Emery's men clung on for another statement win. Jackson went off with eight minutes left to a standing ovation.
Villa started at lightning pace while City cowered, so ponderous in the opening stages that they conceded a corner for taking too long over a goal-kick. Guéhi, booked for pulling down Jackson on the edge of the area, was hooked at half-time by Maresca, who sent on Rico Lewis in his place. The academy trio Phil Foden, Rico Lewis and Ryan McAidoo were sent on to change things for the visitors, but when chasing the game there was a loss of focus, with passes misdirected and needless bookings collected.
Villa Rise to the Occasion Again
Villa always seem to relish these fixtures at Villa Park, and they are now unbeaten in their last four home games against teams starting the day top of the Premier League table. Prior to Saturday's victory, they beat Arsenal 1-0 in December 2023 and 2-1 in December 2025, either side of a 2-2 draw with Liverpool in February 2025.
City only had themselves to blame, with both goals the direct result of lapses in concentration at the back. Since the start of last season, Jan Paul van Hecke (four) is the only outfielder to make more errors leading to goals in the Premier League than Guéhi (three). Donnarumma's error was his third leading directly to a goal in the Premier League since he joined City last season; the only goalkeepers to commit more in that time are Bart Verbruggen (five) and Robin Roefs (four).
Jackson profited to become the first Villa player to score a Premier League brace against the league leaders since Andreas Weimann versus Manchester United in November 2012. He has seven goals in all competitions this term, with Haaland (13) the only Premier League player to outscore him. It was also the first time Jackson has scored twice in a game in Europe's big five leagues since September 2024 for Chelsea against West Ham United.
Post-Match Opta Facts
- Aston Villa are the first side to win three successive Premier League games against Manchester City since Liverpool in December 2016 (a run of four).
- Three of Manchester City's last five Premier League defeats have come against Aston Villa, while they have lost four successive away league games to a single side for the first time since February 2023 against Tottenham Hotspur.
- After conceding eight goals in their opening nine matches of the 2026-27 season in all competitions, Manchester City have since conceded nine times across their last four games.
- Since the start of last season, only Bart Verbruggen (5), Jan Paul van Hecke (4) and Robin Roefs (4) have made more errors leading to goals in the Premier League than the Manchester City duo of Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marc Guéhi (3 each).
The result leaves City's aura of invincibility badly dented after a first league defeat of the campaign, while Villa — second in the Champions League standings with three wins from three — underlined once more that they save their best for the biggest occasions at Villa Park. Had City held on, they would have joined the small group of sides to open a Premier League season with eight wins on the spin; instead, on a day when the two most in-form strikers in England went head to head, it was Jackson, not Haaland, who came out on top.