Saka's second-half winner sends Arsenal top with two wins from two

Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal defeated Aston Villa 1-0 at Villa Park on Monday night, making it two wins from two at the start of the season for Mikel Arteta’s defending champions.

Saka converted Riccardo Calafiori’s precise cross in the 59th minute, sliding to his knees in front of the away end before shouting: “This is our club. We’re champions. Our club, our club.” It was his second goal of the campaign and a statement result for a side widely regarded as favourites to retain the title they claimed last season, ending a 22-year wait.

Arteta revealed he had used the memory of last season’s 2-1 defeat at Villa Park as a motivational tool in his pre-match address to the squad. “It was still in my tummy and I spoke to the players about it,” the Arsenal manager said. “That image when the players were on the floor, totally battered, it was a really difficult one to take.”

He acknowledged the difficulty of the fixture, particularly given Villa’s form — and their surprise 4-0 defeat at Brighton days earlier. “You expect that reaction. And it’s a stadium, it’s a really difficult one, big matches, and they make those moments count. And today we have to suffer, we did suffer, and we have to be really dominant, and we were, so I’m really pleased.”

Arteta also addressed the transfer window, confirming he had deliberately stepped away from business to focus on the match but would return to it immediately. “We are trying to improve the squad, and until tomorrow night we’re going to try to do that,” he said, with Julian Alvarez among the names linked with a move to the Emirates ahead of Tuesday’s 11pm deadline. “I’ve been disconnected from the world for 24 hours, because I think my energy and focus has to be on the match, and I will get back on it now.”