Second-half goals by Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey earned Arsenal earn a hard-fought 2-0 win at Aston Villa on Saturday (Aug 24) as Mikel Arteta's side continued their perfect start to the Premier League season.
Leandro Trossard scored with his first touch after David Raya's stunning save denied Ollie Watkins as Arsenal claimed revenge for last season's losses to Aston Villa with a 2-0 win at Villa Park.
Unai Emery's team inflicted two defeats on Arsenal last season, the second of which effectively cost them the title, and they appeared to have Mikel Arteta's side on the ropes again in the second half of an absorbing encounter in the Midlands.
But after a pair of glaring misses from Watkins, who dragged wide when it looked easier to score in the first half, then saw a close-range header sensationally saved by Raya after the break, Trossard swept home Bukayo Saka's cut-back two minutes after coming on.
The goal came against the run of play but it shifted the momentum of the game and Arsenal soon doubled their lead through Thomas Partey, whose low shot from the edge of the Villa box, from another Saka pass, beat Emiliano Martinez at his near post.
Earlier, Villa had also gone close through summer signing Andre Onana, whose deflected effort bounced back off the bar in the lead-up to the Watkins header kept out by Raya, but Arsenal held firm, with William Saliba outstanding as well as Raya, notably when making a superb last-ditch tackle to help deny Jacob Ramsey.
The win ensures last season's runners-up start the new campaign with six points from six having beaten Wolves in their opener, with Emery's side unable to build on their win over West Ham.
Arsenal end the day level on points with champions Manchester City and Brighton in third place, while Villa sit 12th.
