Jackson double ends Manchester City's perfect start as Aston Villa win 2-1

Villa Park's hold over City continues as Jackson punishes defensive frailties

Aston Villa ended Manchester City's perfect start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 victory at Villa Park on Saturday, as Nicolas Jackson's double exposed the defensive fragilities that had been lurking beneath Enzo Maresca's 100 per cent record.

City had won every match this season before the trip to the Midlands, but Unai Emery's rebuilt side harried them to distraction and collected all three points — their belated first home league win of the campaign. As the Independent put it, the “inconvenient Invincibles are no more”, a record that, in the wake of City's 114 guilty verdicts, had looked an embarrassment for the Premier League as much as an achievement by Maresca.

Emery's new-look Villa do the damage

Emery's reconstruction has been rapid, funded — and then some — by summer sales to comply with financial regulations. The Spanish coach started five newcomers: Jackson, who struck twice; Ibrahim Mbaye, who came off the bench to set up the winner; goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, who made a string of terrific saves; fit-again Johan Manzambi and Alysson on the flanks, the latter reminiscent of Morgan Rogers; and Joao Gomes in a terrier-like midfield.

“Manchester City is the best team in the league until now and one of the best teams in the world,” said Emery. “Today everything we worked [on] was fantastic but there is still work to do.”

Jackson, who now has seven goals this season, was a willing runner in behind and a perfect stylistic fit — a worthy successor to Ollie Watkins, who signed off his Villa career with a match-winning brace against City. “He is working fantastic tactically, understanding where we need him,” Emery added. “We need him more running in behind.”

Goals and errors

The opener was a third consecutive Premier League goal City conceded attributable to Marc Guehi. The January signing miscontrolled, allowing John McGinn to intercept and find Jackson, who rifled a shot into the roof of the net. Maresca accepted the goals were avoidable: “Absolutely, both.”

Erling Haaland briefly levelled, heading in Iliman Ndiaye's cross — the winger having struck the post in a lively first half and been City's biggest first-half threat. Haaland's strike came in a ninth consecutive appearance with a goal.

City's second was traumatic for Gianluigi Donnarumma as Jackson's shot squeezed under him, the move made by Mbaye on his first contribution since coming on. Haaland almost made it a third straight brace, but Ian Maatsen cleared his 89th-minute header off the line.

City's frailties laid bare

Maresca felt his side merited something from the 90 minutes: “I think we deserve more from the game. The performance overall was good.” There was a fairness to the outcome, though, as Villa were rewarded for a colossal effort. Even in victory, City had shown defensive deficiencies — conceding three to Sunderland and two to Ipswich earlier in the campaign — and on a wet day in the Midlands they were not watertight.

The Italian made a double switch at the break, taking off Rayan Cherki — withdrawn at half-time for the fourth time this season — and the booked Guehi, who had tugged back Jackson. “I am not worried about Marc at all,” Maresca insisted, citing their cautions as a reason for replacing both. “Sometimes you have to be more clinical. We will try again next season.”

Suzuki, Villa's new goalkeeper, had earlier saved from Ndiaye's curler and Cherki's close-range shot, then tipped Josko Gvardiol's rising shot on to the bar and made a point-blank block from the raiding left-back.

A familiar pattern at Villa Park

The result became the habitual Villa Park victory against City — four in a row now for Emery, with Maresca emulating Pep Guardiola in unwanted fashion. City have taken no points from a possible 12 on their last four trips to Villa Park. As noted in match reports published on 24 October 2026, City also failed to become only the third team to win their opening eight Premier League games.

Villa arrived on the back of a 3-1 Champions League win over Viking on 22 October 2026, and Emery had demanded sharper consistency ahead of City's visit. At the start and end of the match, the Villa faithful branded the City players “cheating b------s”.

Emery's rebuilding process, it seems, is going quicker than the rebuilding of Villa Park itself — and the annual autumnal improvement has been accelerated.